Six years on from being personally affected by the Grenfell Tower fire, Caroline Dubois is motivated to ensure that Tony Disson’s prophecy is fulfilled.
Dubois’s late trainer Disson was one of 72 people to die on 14 June in 2017 when a tower block in North Kensington caught fire and burned for 60 hours, partly due to dangerous aluminium cladding on the exterior of the 24-storey building.
At the bottom of Grenfell Tower was Dale Youth Boxing Club, where Disson nurtured many prospects, including Dubois, whom he insisted from the very start was destined for the top.
While Dubois realised her Olympic dream and Disson’s in 2021 when she competed at the Tokyo Games, the next goal is a world title, and the 22-year-old will take another step on that journey on Friday at York Hall. There, Dubois fights Yanina Lescano.
“I remember coming back from school and my dad telling me the Grenfell Tower had burnt down,” Dubois told the PA news agency on the sixth anniversary of the tragedy.
“My first ever fight, the guy in my corner Tony, he was in the tower that night and unfortunately passed away. I was devastated for him and his family, everyone that lost their lives. It was a shock; obviously nobody expected that, and it was a horrible, horrible night.
“I had left Dale Youth at that point, but I still knew all the people there, Gary McGuiness and Tony, so I have great memories of Dale Youth.
“Me, Hassan [Azim] and Adam [Azim], we all started at Dale Youth, and we’re all under the same promotion and same banner. It is pretty amazing to be in this moment now.
“Anyone who has watched me or seen me since the beginning of my journey, I hope they are proud and happy for me. Tony always used to say I would go to the Olympics and I would be special. And here I am, trying my hardest to make sure his words come true.”
Before Dubois (6-0, 5 knockouts) started to work with Disson, she had spent time at the historic Repton Boxing Club, where brother Daniel trained. Remarkably, Dubois pretended to be a boy called Colin when – as a nine-year-old girl – she sparred for the first time.
She quickly got the bug for boxing and more than a decade down the line – after watching Claressa Shields and Katie Taylor become household names by winning gold medals at the London Games – is thankful no other girls will experience a similar journey.
Dubois said: “[Mine] is definitely a funny story now, and I look back in hindsight just like, ‘Wow, what an experience, what a journey, and what a story that I can tell. I am very happy to have this story to tell people.
“You go to any club, Repton included, and there are girls there from beginner level to elite. They’ve had one fight or had many. That is a great thing to see.”
Even though Dubois is preparing for only her seventh professional bout, the Londoner has developed a reputation as one of the most exciting names in the women’s game. Five consecutive knockout wins have contributed to the growing hype, but Dubois acknowledges you are only as good as your last fight. While the British prospect wants a world title shot during the next 12 months, she knows Friday’s opponent Lescano will provide a tough test.
“Every fight, depending on how good I perform and how good I look, that is the next step on the ladder,” Dubois said. “That is definitely the goal [a world title], I definitely see it happening within 12 months. That’s what I want.
“It would be a shame if it has to drag out or I have to wait and not be involved in big fights. That would be a shame for me and everyone who watches me, but it needs to be in a situation where it is not just me calling for it, the fans are calling for it, too – people watching the sport calling for it.
“Every time I step into the ring, I want people to say, ‘That girl Caroline was special,’ and I want people to take notice of me and respect the performances I put in.
“I am always going for the most explosive and most exciting fights possible. I am definitely not impatient [to be world champion], but I feel ready. I do feel ready.”
