Caroline Dubois is in no rush to become the future superstar she is being hailed as.
The 21-year-old boxer fights in her second pro bout on Saturday in London, with her promoter Ben Shalom dubbing her “the next face of women’s boxing”.
But Dubois, who is a decorated amateur and fought at last summer’s Tokyo Olympics, is in no hurry to live up to her billing.
“There’s no rush, I can’t be beating everyone now, can I?” she tells BBC Sport.
“It’s crazy people are already throwing out things like that but it’s cool because they have that belief in me.
“I haven’t even stepped up yet and they’re already saying I can do all these things. I want to prove them right and make them feel they made a good investment.”
Dubois made her pro debut under a huge spotlight in February on the undercard of Chris Eubank’s fight against Liam Williams in Cardiff. Multiple-weight world champion Claressa Shields was also on the card.
“I wasn’t overwhelmed,” Dubois says, who fought at super-bantamweight on her debut.
“I look at Claressa and it helps me decide what kind of fighter I want to be and what kind of person I want to be.
“She’s outspoken and she takes up a lot of the attention because she’s not afraid to say how good she is. I felt that was really cool.
“Seeing her train and seeing how she carried herself, it rubbed off on me. I was able to learn from her.”
Watching Shields demolish Ema Kozin and then go toe-to-toe with WBO middleweight champion Savannah Marshall at ringside was inspiring for Dubois, who says she is still figuring out exactly what kind of fighter – and woman – she wants to be.
“I look at Claressa and it helps me decide what kind of person I want to be. At the end of the day, people just copy each other and we’re constantly looking at other people for inspiration and she’s definitely somebody who inspires me,” she explains.
“Pro boxing, it’s all the time, everyone wants to interview you all the time. It can be a bit much and overwhelming, so you really need the right people around you. You need to keep your focus. I’m doing that with the right people. But it’s still something you have to learn to deal with.”
One of the people around Dubois is her brother and fellow pro boxer Daniel, who turned pro as a heavyweight when he was just 19.
The siblings are both trained by Shane McGuigan and travel to the gym together. “There’s no competition there. There’s no way I’m squatting what he is,” Dubois joke
But one piece of advice from her brother has stuck with Caroline.
“He’s told me to be myself,” she says. “And it’s better to be open and speak your mind.”
Dubois might have a bright future ahead of her and although she said the leap from novice to world title contender is shorter than in the men’s game, the Londoner is keen to take things slowly – even if her promoter and fans expect the world from her.
“I want to learn and improve, I know I’m still very immature. I don’t need anyone to tell me that so I want to develop as a person as much as a boxer,” she says.
“I want to have five, six bouts by the end of this year. I want them to be all learning fights, learning the game, learning the ropes, learning the lights.
“We’re in no rush. Female boxing, the level isn’t the same. You have the beginner level and then, bam, you could be fighting for a world title. You have to be ready when the time comes, but right now I’m still young and there’s no rush.”
