Caroline Dubois Aims for Undisputed Lightweight Glory
Caroline Dubois is done waiting.
The 23-year-old south London prodigy has mapped out her route to undisputed at lightweight, and it runs straight through Alycia Baumgardner – but not before she tries to snatch another belt for herself.
Dubois already holds the WBC and WBO titles at 135lbs. She expects to meet the winner of Alycia Baumgardner vs Elif Nur Turhan for the IBF crown next year, with all four belts on the line. That’s the destination. The journey, though, is getting busier by the week.
Dubois eyes WBA belt before undisputed clash
Baumgardner steps up to lightweight to challenge Turhan for the IBF title in the early hours of Monday November 9, live on Sky Sports. On paper, that fight decides Dubois’ future rival for the undisputed showdown.
She has no intention of sitting out and watching the division move around her.
Dubois wants Stephanie Han next, the WBA champion and the only other belt-holder available at 135lbs. Take Han’s title, then face the Baumgardner–Turhan winner, and the undisputed puzzle is complete.
"I want to become undisputed and I want to be involved in relevant fights. To unify the division is my dream right now," Dubois told Sky Sports. "The only other champion [available] is Han and we'll just have to see if I can get it in before the end of the year. If not we'll have to go early next year.
"Hopefully we'll be unified world champion by the end of this year or early next. One belt away from becoming undisputed."
That is the plan: three belts in her possession before she even touches gloves with the IBF champion.
Words fly after Birmingham win
Dubois underlined her status last month in Birmingham, turning back the challenge of Amelia Moore to successfully defend her WBC and WBO titles. The final bell had barely sounded before the talking started.
She and Baumgardner clashed in a heated exchange, a verbal firefight that hinted at the intensity of a future meeting.
"She's most definitely intimidated by me. She's frightened of what I bring to the table," Dubois said. "When she looks at me I know that she sees a younger, better, stronger, more talented, more everything better than her. Everything I do is just better than her. I feel like she's threatened by that."
The rhetoric was sharp, and it did not stop there.
"Everything that she has had to work so hard to get I've had it and I've achieved it in such quick succession. She's threatened, she's jealous. She's feeling a lot of emotions and all I can say is I hope she can focus herself, get that win [over Turhan] and we can find out who's the best.
"I hope she wins the fight. I'm going to be real upset if she doesn't win because I need to show her something."
All roads lead to Baumgardner–Turhan
For now, Dubois watches and waits. The IBF belt is on the line when Elif Turhan, the champion, meets Baumgardner, the challenger, in a fight that will shape the top of the lightweight division.
"Elif Turhan, the champion, versus Alycia Baumgardner, the contender, is going to be an awesome fight. I want the winner. I've made it very clear. I feel like I have been very vocal about the fact that I want to become undisputed.
"The path has revealed itself to me. The path has become clear now... So close, but so far."
Two belts already strapped around her waist. Two more within reach. The question now is simple: who’s brave enough to stand between Caroline Dubois and the crown she’s convinced already has her name on it?
