Caroline Dubois was inspired by Katie Taylor and the first female Olympic boxing champion when she was younger. But now Dubois is trying to force a fight with Taylor and plans to keep mentioning the Irish superstar.
If Dubois can beat Maira Moneo in their match on Saturday, Sky SportsShe will be taking the WBC interim lightweight title. Taylor currently boxes in the above division, but she still holds the WBC overall world championship at 135 pounds.
“If I win this fight on Saturday, I'm going to be her mandator. So she has two choices: She can either back off or fight me. That's it,” DuBois said. Sky Sports.
For a more accessible video player, please use the Chrome browser.
Dubois is looking forward to the fight with Moneo and predicts she will win by knockout.
“I have to keep saying her name to let people know that I'm serious and that I'm doing this.
“If you don't talk, people will forget about you. Katie knows what's going on.”
But Moneo promises to be a tough opponent on Saturday, with the Uruguayan's only professional defeat coming via disqualification for a headbutt.
But DuBois warned that if Moneo tried any dirty tactics, “I'll do the same thing to him.”
“I'm going to knock her out with my fist.”
Dubois has to deliver. But she says, “I'm focused on getting in the ring and kicking ass. That's my focus. If I'm focused on how I look and what I'm doing when I get in the ring, there's no pressure.
“If I win, people will talk about me. If I lose, people will forget about me. So the focus is on winning and how I win.”
For a more accessible video player, please use the Chrome browser.
Dubois shows her desire to face Katie Taylor after her fight with Moneo.
Dubois is a young professional, but as a standout amateur she has grown accustomed to high expectations. She was undefeated as a youth and junior, and won world and European championships in her category.
It was her first defeat as a senior boxer, but her most painful defeat came when she failed to reach the medal stage and was eliminated from her last Olympics.
But she's confident the experience will help her in the future.
“People started to realize that every time I went to a tournament, this girl was undefeated,” DuBois said. “I started to worry about not losing and winning, and I think that's the problem.
For a more accessible video player, please use the Chrome browser.
Dubois was better than Miranda Reyes, but couldn't find a stop despite hitting a lot of damaging combinations.
“There is a difference. What I learned from that experience is that I think you have to be more interested in winning than losing.
“I remember as a kid when I was 11 years old, watching Katie, Claressa (Shields) and Nicola (Adams). After seeing them in London, I wanted to go to the Olympics. After seeing them in London, I wanted to win a gold medal.
“They had that dream burning in me since I was a little kid, and by the time I was 20, that was all I wanted… I didn't want to let that go. It was really painful and I learned a lot.”
Now she is positive and aggressive when facing her opponents, and that is exactly what we can expect from Moneo when she fights on Saturday.
“You have to fight these opponents because everyone wants to win,” Dubois said of them.
“All they have is effort and drive, and they bring it every time, and you have to match that.
“You have to want it more than they do, train harder than they do, and be better than them. And that's what I do every time.”
Watch Maira Moneo vs Caroline Dubois live. Sky Sports Action Saturday, August 3rd, starting at 7:30pm.
