Caroline Dubois and Terri Harper traded sharp words at the press launch ahead of their world-title unification on Sunday, April 5 at Kensington’s Olympia, live on Sky Sports.
Both Britons enter the fight as world champions in the lightweight ranks — Dubois holds the WBC title while Harper is the WBO 135lb champion — and tensions boiled over as the rivalry turned personal. Dubois has publicly questioned Harper’s credentials, prompting a strong response from the three-division former champion.
“This fight isn’t about the belts. For me I just want to fight Caroline. That will be the sweetest victory of my career,” Harper said, calling Dubois’s remarks “disrespectful” and insisting the insults have only motivated her. “She’s massively overlooking me and thinks it’s going to be an easy night.”
Dubois fired back bluntly, saying she expects a straightforward win. “It is going to be an easy night. I think she doesn’t believe the words coming out of her mouth,” she said, later adding, “I believe I’m going to smash her up. I called her irrelevant because I believe she is. My legacy starts with becoming undisputed in the lightweight division.”
At the face-off Dubois interrupted Harper and stepped into her space, prompting a tense staredown that underscored how much is at stake beyond the belts.
Harper emphasized her experience and work-rate as keys to victory: “My engine and my work-rate, she’s not going to be able to match it. I had to learn the hard way and I believe she’s doing that too.”
Also on the bill, south Londoner Ellie Scotney — the three-belt world super-bantamweight champion from Catford — meets Mexico’s Mayelli Flores. Scotney said a win would make her the youngest British undisputed champion in the four-belt era and reflected on how hard she worked for this opportunity: “To be back home boxing in Britain, with Sky Sports, I’m just grateful.”
Watch Dubois vs Harper and Scotney vs Flores live on Sky Sports on Sunday, April 5 at Kensington’s Olympia.