As part of Black History Month, Caroline Dubois shared this Sky Sports News about her sports idols and their influence on her boxing career.
The 22-year-old is no stranger to pressure, having already become an Olympic Youth Champion and won four European Youth Championships.
Her professional career started on a similarly successful basis. In her first eight fights, she has recorded five wins by knockout and three by decision, with the most recent win earning her the IBO lightweight belt.
With this year’s Black History Month theme of ‘Our sisters greet’we asked the British boxer which sportswomen inspired her rise and she told us about four black sportswomen she idolized in Claressa Shields, Coco Gauff, Simone Biles and Laila Ali.
‘I needed someone like Shields when I was little.”
Dubois’ first role model is fellow boxer Claressa Shields. The 28-year-old is the only fighter in the history of the sport – male or female – to hold all four major world titles simultaneously in two weight classes.
She is widely considered the world’s best pound-for-pound female boxer and is 14-0 with two knockouts as a pro.
“I didn’t have a lot of female boxers that I looked up to growing up,” Dubois said. “Fortunately, I remember seeing her at the Olympics.”
Shields won gold medals in the women’s middleweight division at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, making her the first American boxer to win consecutive Olympic medals.
“I became a No. 1 fan; everything she represented to me. I remember getting into a squad and being the only black girl there. I felt very insecure about how I looked and who I was,” said Dubois.
“Shields, she was so big, strong and good. I’ve seen her shows and she’s never lost. I really needed someone like Shields when I was little.”
‘Shields proved it was normal to look like me’
“I remember when I was nine, I started boxing and was mistaken for a boy,” Dubois said.
Repton Amateur Boxing Club was the gym she attended, and because it was a boys-only club, she had to go by the name Colin.
“I walked into the gym and they said, ‘Oh, that kid is there.’ And at that moment I didn’t care.
“But as I got older, I realized that all the other female boxers had long hair. They didn’t have such big muscles. They looked more feminine.
“And then I saw clips of Shields. I swear she was wearing the same shorts I always wore, and her hair was all crazy, just the way I looked after practice.
“When I saw that, it was exactly what I needed to see. It was normal.”
‘Blown away’ by Shields’ Instagram post
The current lightweight champion will always remember her first interaction with Shields.
“I remember being in bed when I first spoke to her,” she said.
‘I was scrolling Instagram while you do that, and then a message arrives. I’m like, ‘Who is this person?’ I click on it and it’s Claressa!
“I screamed. My sister was on the bunk bed below me and I thought, ‘Oh my God, you won’t believe who just texted me.’ Then she sent me a picture and I was blown away by it.
“I talked to her and it was good. The respect is there; now she’s watching my journey, so it’s a privilege.”
Shields will go down as the greatest female boxer
The conversation turned to where Dubois placed Shields on her list of greatest of all time. It is not surprising that it is at the top.
“As I got older, I realized that being able to say how good you are is a statement in itself. And I think she looks like Muhammad Ali,” she explained.
‘He always called himself the greatest. Everyone laughed at him and then he proved it. And now we all know his name, even though he’s gone. I think the same thing is going to happen.”
Shields already holds the record for becoming a two- and three-weight world champion in the fewest professional fights.
“When she retires from boxing, and it’s all said and done, a lot of people will say Claressa Shields was the best female boxer ever.”
What Gauff is doing at such a young age is amazing
The next role model on the list is 19-year-old Coco Gauff, who won the US Open in September.
Dubois said: “I’m a big fan of all sports. When I was a kid I used to play so many different sports. Lately I’ve taken up tennis. I remember being in Sheffield for a boxing camp; other reason tennis was always going on.
‘And that’s when I first heard about Coco. She was everywhere in the newspapers and on the internet. This young boy just dethroned the Williams sisters, and that was a big thing.”
Gauff became the first American teenager to win the US Open at Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams in 1999.
“I can’t imagine how tough it was – not just the actual playing, but the pressure of performing on such a big stage. What she does is amazing,” Dubois added.
We don’t see many black people coming through tennis
Dubois was asked about black role models in tennis. She said: “Tennis is a space where, even though we have the Williams sisters, who are amazing, we don’t see a lot of black people coming through.
“It’s really hard to be the person who breaks the mold, steps out and does something that’s never been done before.
“A lot of young kids coming in now, especially black kids, know you can get into tennis.”
Biles is the GOAT of gymnastics
Simone Biles is the most decorated gymnast in history. She won the individual all-around title at the World Championships for the sixth time earlier this month and now has 34 medals at the World Championships and Olympic Games.
It’s no surprise that she is one of Dubois’ favorite athletes and the pair met briefly at an Olympics.
Dubois said, “I remember when I first saw her, it was very surreal. I was walking to the food court. I see a little, little girl walking past me and I’m like, ‘Who is that?’ Then I wave at her and smile; she looks at me and smiles back.”
“Gymnastics was one of the first sports that I did and that I really enjoyed. Even now I watch gymnastics in the run-up to the Olympics.
“Biles has led the way. She has been the GOAT of the gymnastics world. What she has done has never been done before.”
My respect goes out to young gymnasts who achieve greatness
She also had a lot to say about Biles’ journey to success from a young age, mentioning that the 26-year-old already has four signature moves named after her.
“It was very impressive. In gymnastics, the sport is a little bit different. They are a lot younger when they enter the elite stage. I have realized that there is a lot of pressure,” she admitted.
“When you’re so young, and it’s a very individual sport, you step on that beam alone. It is a very precise sport that you have to do well.
“But when you come in as reigning champions, there’s a lot of pressure put on you to live up to expectations. And that in itself can go back to what I said before: sometimes, when you win, then ‘I’m just relieved that you get the you have achieved victory.
“My respect goes out to anyone who can do that at a young age.”
We should applaud athletes who open up about the issues they face
Dubois has also highlighted her admiration for the way Biles has prioritized her mental wellbeing, having recently returned to competition after a two-year break.
In 2021, Biles suffered from a phenomenon known as twisties during the Tokyo Olympics, which forced her to withdraw from multiple events.
During her hiatus, she announced that she would work on her mental health, and during that time she provided testimony to Congress about the abuse she suffered at the hands of disgraced doctor Larry Nassar.
“I remember her coming out and saying she didn’t want to compete because of the pressure, and it’s like I said, what you see on the screen is just fencing,” Dubois said.
“And for her to come out and be open about what she’s going through is very difficult. You see a lot of athletes and boxers coming into the ring to face problems.
“And no one tells anyone until it’s too late, so for her to do it this early should be something we applaud.”
No other female boxer did it like Ali did it
The last sportswoman Dubois wants to celebrate is Laila Ali, daughter of Muhammed Ali. She believes that Laila Ali’s stellar career from 1999 to 2007 paved the way for Dubois.
Dubois talked about how she was inspired by Ali fighting in a sport that had rarely seen the idea of a woman putting on the gloves.
“When I started boxing, Ali was on the scene, and no other female boxer was doing what she was doing. There were no Olympics. There was nothing – there were only pros because of Ali.
“When I started, I said I wanted to be like them, go pro and be a champion.”
Ali had great physical and mental strength
Dubois admitted she couldn’t fathom the pressure Ali faced in an environment very different from what we see today.
She said: “I couldn’t imagine being able to start boxing when she did. Women’s boxing was seen more as a sideshow, a joke.
“She trained hard to take it seriously, even though people laughed and said it was a joke.”
When Ali agreed to fight Joe Frazier’s daughter, Jacqui Frazier, it became the first main event pay-per-view match between two women.
“It’s great to have the power to do that,” Dubois added.
“Get in the ring, fight, give her everything, earn her money and get her respect. It speaks to her mental strength as well as her physical strength.”