Caroline Dubois will pursue a showdown with British rival Terri Harper next year. Dubois is the WBC lightweight champion and Harper holds the WBO title at 135lbs, and Dubois wants a world championship unification early in 2026.
Having recently signed with MVP, who also promote Harper, Dubois believes there should be few impediments to making the contest happen. “It was one of the main reasons I signed with MVP and Jake Paul. I just felt like they have the best opponents for me. They have the biggest names,” she told Sky Sports News. “Terri Harper, Alycia Baumgardner, Stephanie Han and Holly Holm, they have those girls.” She added: “Terri Harper obviously is a British fighter, I’m a British fighter, it makes the most sense and it’s the one we want to get straightaway next, in the first quarter of next year.”
Dubois’ next fight is a defence of her WBC title against Italy’s Camila Panatta on the undercard of Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua on December 19 in Miami. “It’s the biggest moment that a fighter can ask for and it’s a blessing, a privilege and I honestly can’t wait to go out there and let the American public see what Caroline Dubois is all about,” she said.
The 24-year-old wants to make a statement. “Every time I step into the ring, people see what I bring. They don’t need to question it. I’m not flukey, I’m not somebody who is trying to be someone else, I step into the ring and I’m a straight killer,” she said. Dubois believes the women’s lightweight division is booming and that she is on a “quest for greatness.” “I believe the best me, the best Caroline Dubois who turns up in shape, conditioned, strong, ready – I beat anyone. I think I destroy any opposition in the lightweight division and Camila’s the first one, the first one in my way.”