Caroline Dubois comes to the phone breathless having just stepped out from her daily session at Leyton Boxing Academy, (Mcguigan gym) “We professionals train in the mornings and the amateurs in the evenings,” she explains of the East London boxing venue, which is increasingly producing champions in national boxing sport.
British born, Caroline Dubois, 23 years, has not only won most national titles, including being named 2019’s BBC Young Sport’s Personality of the Year but is also taking the torchlight for female British boxing onto an international stage: representing the UK at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and winning silver at the European championships the same year, by way of being crowned World Youth Champion, European Youth Champion four times and currently holding the title of interim WBC women’s lightweight champion.
North London based, Dubois, has become a face card for a young Gen Z generation focused on issues such as female empowerment, mental health and bringing femininity through strength to male dominated fields. She was brought up by a single parent, her father Dave (of eleven children) although she is one of seven, all consumed by the boxing sport, most notably her famed elder brother, Daniel Dubois, who has held IBF heavyweight title since earlier this year. “I started boxing at 9years old out of curiosity, as my Dad was very focused on my brothers in the sport and I was always around it,” she ponders.
Even as the sport is drifting further into the mainstream both as professional and amateur, it still seems wrapped in stigma for female competitors, what were the stark differences for her versus her brothers starting out in the sport? “There were very few women in it when I first started. I couldn’t get any female sparring, experience, travel or fights in general, compared to my brothers. I was getting one-three fights per year whilst the guys were getting around 30 a year and most of my fights were international. Fights are where you grow and learn so it was tough.”
Does she feel the UK is behind on the female sporting scene? “Most definitely but it is getting better, it feels like there are a lot more female fighters around now in the UK. But places like Russia and the European countries, particularly, are much more developed for the sport.”
Dubois continues, “My mum and my sisters were around but I didn’t really have much female mentorship growing up, I mean in boxing there was only really Laila Ali but she was so much older than me, I couldn’t really relate to her. It wasn’t until the London 2012 Olympics came around and there were these girls like Nicola Adams and Natasha Jonas, who became my role models. Those girls gave me dreams and a vision to get to the Olympics – a goal to walk out on that Olympic field,” she enthuses.
Having reached that Olympic field and experienced the camaraderie of female sporting achievement, how has her day-to-day life been impacted as a young 20-something? Dubois instinctively notes the discipline required, “It’s a lifestyle, you’ve got to eat right 24/7, sleep the right hours, wake up early and commit. I think when you see young star competitors miss the mark, it’s because they struggled with being an athlete not just a boxer.”
As our conversation precedes, it is clear Dubois has a good head on her shoulders: she continuously straddles the line between driven and well adjusted, even when I tentatively refer to the rift between herself and her father, who has publicly criticised her involvement in the sport as a woman, which is making local news.
“It hurts coming from a family member or someone in your inner circle but I would say to other young girls looking at me that as a female boxer you will always be met with some criticism. However, I really live by a YOLO (you only live once) ethos: there is only one shot at this life, so there is no point wasting time caring what people say and think. If you are good at something and enjoy it then go and pursue it.”
Dubois is learning to take role model status in her stride, “I remember the shift from being a little girl going to her local boxing club to being called a role model and I just didn’t know what to do with it,” she mesmerises.
I enquire what she makes of binary conversations around the tendency of younger sporting competitors prioritising their mental health, “I think when you are an athlete on the biggest level, you will always have people who have this idea of how you should perform, carry yourself in competition and out of it, it’s like they feel they know you and are entitled to expectations of you once you are someone in the limelight but at the end of the day it is tough for us because we are just human beings who happen to be really good at our sport.”
I take a look at Caroline Dubois’ Instagram, intrigued about her out-of-the-arena lifestyle and look, and am surprised to find on trend minimalist fashion looks interspersed, including cropped white shirts with denim and streamlined silhouette midi skirts, “I don’t specifically follow trends but what feels good. Since I am an Adidas sponsored athlete, I am mainly in Adidas whether training or chilling, so it’s nice to do something else when I go out. I love to hang at Westfield, White City and often go to see a film at Electric Cinema. I believe you have to find balance, people always talk about burnout and the burnout is real if you don’t.”
Nor does Dubois want to be hemmed into a pro athlete life forever but has other future plans, which include having children, settling down, travelling the world and even starting businesses, “I am so grateful to boxing because it has given me so much but recently I was competing with older women in their 40’s and as women in sport the reality is we need to start having conversations with ourselves about our future outlook. Boxing for me is not everything, it’s a very large chapter in a book.”
Refreshingly Dubois openly engages in sensitive discussion, I bring up the recent controversies of Algerian boxer, Imane Khelif and questions around transgender competition, “It’s really hard for me to comment as I don’t actually know Imane, we were both at the Tokyo Olympics but our paths didn’t cross and I have never competed with her. I am not a scientist, I really cannot say,” she pauses. “However, I do believe boxing is a dangerous, combative sport and I don’t believe we should be messing around with it and mixing men and women. If a guy wants to change physically for personal reasons it is too dangerous to put that in an arena with a female.”
When this interview was conducted in October 2024, Caroline Dubois was the interim WBC lightweight champion, with aspirations of unifying the division. Since then, she has been elevated to full WBC world champion following Katie Taylor’s decision to vacate the title. Dubois successfully defended her title twice: first against Jessica Camara in January 2025, a bout that ended in a technical draw due to an accidental clash of heads, and then with a majority decision victory over Bo Mi Re Shin in March 2025 at the Royal Albert Hall.
Photographer
Arved Colvin-Smith
Stylist
Adele Cany
Make-up
Mira Parmar using Chanel Winter Tale Collection and No.1 de CHANEL skincare
Styling Assistant
Giovanna Piergallini
