When Caroline Dubois turned professional at the start of 2022, the Londoner’s team were keen to manage her progression wisely.
But just 16 months later, the shackles are off.
The 22-year-old is now targeting a match-up with some of boxing’s biggest names.
“By the end of the year I want to face Mikaela Mayer, or maybe even Alycia Baumgardner if she moves up in weight,” Dubois tells BBC Sport.
“The lightweight division is ram packed. There are so many people we can make a legacy fight with.”
With six straight wins, and five consecutive clinical stoppages, Dubois faces Yanina del Carmen Lescano at London’s York Hall on Friday.
Argentine Lescano, ranked sixth with the WBA, is no pushover, but Dubois is dreaming of bigger things.
“I want to be a multi-weight world champion,” she says. “To be somebody who has done something that’s never been done before.”
How Dubois adjusted to pro boxing
A Youth Olympic champion, Dubois was hailed as a future boxing superstar long before she turned professional.
She feels her natural talent is now strengthened by a self-belief that was previously lacking, and by better understanding of the intricacies of pro boxing.
“Getting used to the whole fight week was a challenge,” she says.
“As an amateur, you focus on the fight. You just have your opponent and the weight to make. But as a pro, you have the camera, the interviews, the media days, the press conferences.
“It’s more of an occasion and that can sap your energy. It took time to get used to, but I have.
“I also have that belief now because I’ve been putting in the performances, the work in the gym. I’m confident.”
Boxxer promoter Ben Shalom is satisfied Dubois has completed her apprenticeship and predicts she will fight for a world title within a year.
“You can’t hold a talent like Caroline back much longer,” he says. “The way she has developed physically and mentally over the past year is phenomenal.”
Dubois calls out Mayer
Irish superstar Katie Taylor is the current undisputed lightweight champion. Dubois would take that bout “with both hands” but feels it is unlikely to happen.
“I’m not too upset about it,” she adds. “Katie’s done a lot for legacy and for boxing.
“She will be remembered for her victories and not her defeats. She’s a great fighter, ambassador and female role model.”
When asked which established fighter is top of her hit-list, Dubois – without hesitation – says: “Mayer. I’ve said it a thousand times to my team. I want that fight, realistically next year.”
American Mayer, 32, is a former super-featherweight champion and a marquee name in women’s boxing.
“People don’t want to see me fighting the level I am at now,” Dubois says. “They want to see me step up, thrive and fight the best of the best.
“I want journalists, reporters, fans to go: ‘Caroline hasn’t stepped up her level. Let’s see her against someone like Mayer.’
‘I’m with the right team’
Dubois is trained by Shane McGuigan, who also coached her brother, heavyweight Daniel Dubois, until the pair parted ways last month.
With various rumours circulating on social media as to the reason for the split, the lightweight will not be drawn into why her brother – who is set to fight world champion Oleksandr Usyk next – is no longer part of the McGuigan stable.
“What can I tell you? It’s personal,” she says, instead focusing on her trainer’s recent successes.
McGuigan led Chris Billam-Smith to a shock win over Lawrence Okolie for the WBO cruiserweight world title on 27 May.
Two weeks later, he guided super-bantamweight Ellie Scotney to her first world championship.
“It has lifted everybody’s spirits,” Dubois adds. “It’s like waking up and it’s like summer outside after a long week of winter.
“I remember when I first did pads with Shane, I knew this was the guy was who I wanted to train me and would take me far.
“The recent successes of the gym is proof that I’m with the right team.”
