Caroline Dubois believes that Amanda Serrano holds the key to the hopes of a future fight with Katie Taylor for she or Chantelle Cameron.
Taylor and Serrano on Friday fight for the second time, at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on the undercard of the ill-advised heavyweight contest between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul.
Their celebrated first fight, in 2022 at Madison Square Garden in New York, was one of the toughest of the 38-year-old Taylor’s tough career, and perhaps was surpassed only in 2023, when Cameron inflicted her first defeat.
Taylor, somewhat controversially, avenged that defeat to win the undisputed junior-welterweight title she is to defend against Puerto Rico’s Serrano at a catchweight of 138lbs, but at a time when Ireland’s most iconic athlete has been targeted for a third fight with Cameron and as the high-profile opponent best suited to igniting the career of the talented Dubois, Dubois recognises that another tough fight with Serrano, 36, could mean Taylor’s career coming to an end.
“It depends on how the fight goes,” the 23-year-old told BoxingScene. “If it’s a hard war – she’s come out battered and bruised, and maybe she doesn’t look so good – I’m sure she’d sit down and have a real, long think. If she goes out there and outboxes [Serrano] – shines – rolls back the clock, then she’ll say, ‘Roll on one more’. It really does ride on this fight and how it goes.
“She had a really hard fight with Amanda Serrano last time out; if it’s a complete copy of that, I’m sure she’ll really start thinking about whether or not she goes again. But if she makes it easy; she outboxes her; doesn’t get hit; doesn’t get hurt, I’m sure she’ll want one more.
“Anything above 135 is going to be very hard for Amanda Serrano. She’s very small; she used to fight at 118lbs, which is insane, considering she’s going to go all the way up to there. I just don’t see how she’s going to – she’s not going to be big enough, in my opinion. She’s got the power – she’ll always have the power – but I think Katie’s just going to hit and move and just try to run rings around her. She’s going to be more focused; more dedicated to her game plan, which is going to be hit and move, and I just see Katie Taylor walking away with a points win.
“She’s the biggest fish right now. But Katie isn’t the only fish. There’s Alycia Baumgardner; there’s, at my weight, Terri Harper; Beatrix Ferreira; Rhiannon Dixon. There’s so many people in and around my weight that I don’t need Katie Taylor. She’s from the era before me, and if she comes and goes before I step into the ring with her, it isn’t a problem. She’s a champion; she’s done her thing, and I’m going to do my thing, regardless of whether she’s a part of the story or not.
“She was one of the reasons why I was able to go the way I’m going, so I’m grateful for her. If she’s a part of the story really is irrelevant, because my life and my story grows without her.
“[A third fight with Cameron is] more likely than me fighting Katie Taylor. It’s going to be resting on Katie. She would want that settled, I’m sure. With everyone saying, ‘Chantelle, Chantelle’, it’s going to be gnawing on her to get that sorted. So I would say that’s more likely than me fighting Katie Taylor. She did hand Katie her first professional loss, then turned around and handed it back to Chantelle, so it’s 1-1 right now. You’ve got to find out who’s the real champ, so it makes sense.”
Dubois has perhaps come to be recognised as not only the world’s finest lightweight, but the finest talent on the books of Boxxer, the promotional organisation whose progress has stalled.
She revealed that she has been told by Ben Shalom that she will be given a date to fight outside of her home city of London early in 2025 if not before the conclusion of 2024, and that there also exist plans for her to enter a higher-profile fight during the coming summer.
“I’ve been given two dates,” she said. “One will be in December, and one’s early next year – it’s just coming back from Boxxer, the information and what one I’ll be on, so hopefully I’ll get out sooner rather than later.
“I’ll be looking at anyone in the WBC rankings, so anyone in the top five is a target.
“I know that Sky and Boxxer have been in communication about wanting another all-female show [in 2025], so hopefully, fingers crossed, that happens. I’ve been told that they’re pushing to make an all-female show, and obviously I’d love to be on that one.
“Terri Harper’s just won the WBA Caroline Dubois explains why Katie Taylor is an unlikely future opponent, and she’s a world champion and she’s at my weight. She’s probably going to be the number one for me – it’s an English clash, all-female clash. It makes sense to make Terri Harper one of the main targets.”
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