Trying to get a soundbite out of Daniel Dubois and other stories

It was a November lunchtime and I was chasing Daniel Dubois down Caxton Street in East London.

Hanging around the old Peacock Gym was never a chore. An endless stream of characters would pass through, the rings were in constant use and there was always a good old fashioned cup of coffee and a decent sandwich available at the café.

Still, although we are lucky enough to mix business with pleasure, there was work to be done and a promo for one of Dubois’ sponsors to be filmed. The standard footage of the young heavyweight hitting the pads and bags was safely stored on memory cards. We still needed the all important and, let’s be honest, equally standard quotes.

The sight of his giant frame – bedecked in his brown flight jacket and carrying an old school gym bag – escaping out of the door and sauntering off into Canning Town was cause for concern.

After a brief pursuit, Dubois came back, completed his obligations and then left again.  

A few weeks later he knocked out the colorful Kyotaro Fujimoto in a couple of rounds.

There was never anything surly about the quiet Dubois’ demeanor. If anything, it was endearing. Dubois would happily chat away and the job would always get done but, when it came to boxing, he genuinely had no interest in anything other than his business in the ring.

As bizarre as it may sound for somebody who needed to wring quotes out of the encounters, I loved those early days with Dubois. In an era where fighters recognise that one soundbite can move them further along in their career than a couple of solid wins, a world class prospect with a real aversion to cameras and publicity was a refreshing change and provided a unique challenge.

Over time, Dubois began to relax and felt happy enough to give a ‘Through the Keyhole’ style tour of his Essex home and engage in ‘Mr and Mr’ type games with his gym mates. Still, he was always happy to share the spotlight and happier to avoid it.

He doesn’t have that option this weekend. Dubois will be at the center of the sporting world when he defends his IBF heavyweight title against Anthony Joshua in front of 96,000 fans at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night. 

Dubois is still only 27 years old but has been involved in more than his share of high pressure situations. His first real step up came against Joe Joyce in a high stakes, behind closed doors British title fight. Dubois eventually sinking to a knee after Joyce’s ramrod jab cracked his orbital bone.

From that point on, Dubois boxed with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Aware that he had been labeled a quitter and that a repeat could all but spell the end of his career, he plugged away and eventually earned himself a shot at Oleksandr Usyk’s unified heavyweight titles.

Dubois was a bit part player in the promotion but handled the occasion well until Usyk began to accelerate through the gears and fatigue – and panic stations – set in during the mid rounds of the fight. Again, he sank to one knee and allowed himself to be counted out.

At that point, Dubois’ shortcomings had been laid out for all to see. A supremely talented young heavyweight with every physical gift imaginable but without the mental toughness to force himself through the difficult moments every true champion must do in order to reach the top.

To his eternal credit, he went away and reinvented himself.

Saudi Arabia’s emergence as the most powerful force in heavyweight boxing allowed Dubois to rebuild both his career and confidence. Last December he bullied the bully and stopped Jarrell Miller in ten rounds and then, in June, he put in an outstanding show of grit to grind down and stopped the previously unbeaten Filip Hrgovic to win the interim IBF belt, a belt which was upgraded when Usyk decided to vacate his full title.

Working with Don Charles seems to have awakened something new inside of him and Dubois appeared to be physically and mentally bulletproof throughout the build up and fight with Hrgovic. 

Fighting Joshua represents an entirely different task. Joshua is used to shouldering the weight and expectation of a massive promotion and over the years he has proven adept at treating extremely uncommon scenarios like Saturdays as if they are perfectly routine.

Dubois is now a world champion and must prove that he can do the same. On Saturday night he will leave his dressing room and emerge into a sea of illuminated mobile phones. Riyadh Season has taught us to expect the unexpected, but if past stadium events are anything to go by, he will slowly walk around the perimeter of the pitch with a high definition camera just a couple of feet from his face. He will then climb a few small steps and step onto a raised platform where he will need to awkwardly shadow box in front of the world for a few moments.

It is during these minutes that Dubois will either revert back to the quiet, shy youngster and retreat into his shell or whether he revels in the atmosphere and uses the energy in the stadium to elevate him to a new level.

Dubois will fight – there is no doubt about that – but how he handles those crucial moments before the first bell could dictate just what type of fight he will end up in. Will he be happy to play his part in the event, share the spotlight and react to whatever Joshua is doing or will he decide that the time has come to claim center stage and impose himself from the first bell and prove himself a true champion.

Should he do it, it would cap a remarkable turnaround both personally and professionally.

Unfortunately, it will also mean that he won’t be able to avoid the cameras.