Caroline Dubois is a woman on a mission. The 24-year-old British boxing champion has held the World Boxing Council’s women’s lightweight world title since December 2024, and as she talks to hello! from her boxing gym, there’s no doubt that this undefeated star has the determination to achieve her dream of becoming undisputed in three weight divisions, then retiring before the age of 30. “That’s the plan,” says the star, whose drive and ambition comes naturally. “I think I’ve always had it in me.”
The younger sister of the professional boxer and former heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois, Caroline has boxing in her genes. The sports commentator Mike Costello called her “the best female boxer I have seen”. A four-time European youth champion and Olympian, she most recently defeated the formidable Bo Mi Re Shin at the Royal Albert Hall in March. “It makes me feel like I want more,” Caroline says of her success. “I want to be a multiweight world champion, to be involved in the biggest fights in women’s boxing. I want to achieve greatness.”
© JOSEPH SINCLAIR
It’s apt that Caroline speaks to us in October, which is Black History Month. This year’s theme is “Standing firm in power and pride” and it’s something Caroline is passionate about.
“For me, Black History Month is something that needs to be changed,” she says. “I think it should be Black History Year. Black history should be something that people respect, understand and acknowledge. Black people have shaped and formed this country; they are the building blocks of this country, so it’s a history that needs to be respected.”
Caroline’s own career has been influenced by an incredible woman, Sylvia Dubois, who was born into slavery in 18th-century America and won her freedom by fighting her slave owner, with Sylvia delivering a knockout punch. “Sylvia Dubois shares my name; I heard her story and I was inspired. She changed her life through the power of her hands and it’s something that I do myself.”
Journey to greatness
Caroline is one of 11 children and was raised by her father, Dave Dubois. She started boxing aged nine at London’s Repton Amateur Boxing Club – the club where her brother Daniel trained. Her father saw her passion and talent, yet there was one problem: “The coach, Bobby Beck, was very old-school and didn’t allow women into the gym.” So she pretended to be a boy. “I said my name was Colin.”
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After boxing “in disguise” for several months, an upcoming pre-fight medical meant they “hit a snag”, so Caroline joined another gym where she was allowed to train. “They were a little bit stubborn, but then the coach saw how good I was, and said: ‘Listen, this girl has just as much ability as the rest of them.’”
Caroline kept her boxing life a secret from school friends, explaining: “I went to school when I was 11 years old – I never went to primary school – and didn’t tell anybody I boxed. I enjoyed going to school and being somebody else, not being a boxer, just Caroline.” Now, old school friends get in touch when they see her box. “Their minds are blown.”
She represented Team GB at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, making the quarter finals, and says that as a young athlete she was inspired by the Olympians Nicola Adams and Katie Taylor.
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She also won the 2024 Athlete of the Year Mandela Award. To young female boxers, she advises: “Train hard – as cliché as it sounds. Boxing is very, very hard, and in my opinion one of the toughest sports in the world, so make sure you enjoy it.”
Now Caroline is focused on achieving her own greatness, away from her brother’s success. “I don’t really focus on Daniel because I’m in my own lane,” she says. “When my career is said and done, people are going to respect me for being Caroline Dubois, who was a badass fighter.”
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