Caroline Dubois has doubled down on her suggestion that Terri Harper is “irrelevant”, as the English rivals build towards their title-unification fight in April.
WBC champion Dubois and WBO title-holder Harper will share a ring on 5 April, with their lightweight showdown headlining an all-women’s card at London’s Olympia.
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Ahead of that event, which marks a UK debut for Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions, the fighters held a press conference in the very venue where they will square off.
Dubois, 25, doubled down on a recent claim that Harper, 29, is irrelevant, saying: “I called her irrelevant because I believe that she is. I’m not focusing on Terri Harper – I never have and I never will. I’m focusing on the belts, I’m focusing on my future, I’m focusing on my legacy.
“My legacy starts with becoming undisputed at the lightweight division. Unfortunately for Terri, she’s the one holding the belt, so that’s who I’ve got in my mind, but if it was anyone – and I mean anyone – it wouldn’t matter. My energy would be the same, my intensity would be the same, my mindset would be the same, my work ethic would be the exact same.
“And my performance on fight night, 5 April, will be the exact same. I’m gonna train like I’ve never trained before, I’m gonna sacrifice everything.
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“Honestly, it wouldn’t matter if it was Terri sitting there, if it was Godzilla sitting there; I would have the same energy. They’ve got the belt, and that’s all I care about.”
WBO lightweight champion Terri Harper (Getty Images)
Harper kept a cool head, saying: “She’s doing a great job selling the fight, she’s doing my job for me, so I’m just being my authentic self. I’m here, I’m enjoying the moment, it’s a great opportunity for myself.
“All of this [today] means nothing, it’s what happens on the night. One hundred per cent [I’m being overlooked]. I’ve been there in my career before, where I’ve been looking at future fights before I’ve even done the fight in front of me.
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“That was a mistake that I had to learn the hard way, and I feel like Caroline’s doing that. I’m not here for her respect, but I feel like she’s massively overlooking me and she thinks it’s gonna be an easy night.”
“It is gonna be an easy night,” smirked Dubois, who also disputed the relevance of Harper’s experience, citing her compatriot’s draw with Natasha Jonas and losses to Alycia Baumgardner and Sandy Ryan.
Chantelle Cameron (left), pictured during her second fight with Katie Taylor, will also compete on the 5 April card (Getty Images)
There was another jibe when Dubois suggested she hadn’t trained this week, saying her camp is yet to begin, with Harper retorting: “You’ve got some catching up to do.”
Dubois will enter their main event with a 12-0-1 record (5 knockouts), while Harper is 16-2-2 (6 KOs). Also fighting on the Sky Sports card will be English talents Chantelle Cameron, Ellie Scotney and Emma Dolan.
Ex-world champion Cameron will fight for the vacant WBO super-welterweight belt, Scotney will defend her unified super-bantamweight titles, and Dolan will challenge for the IBF super-flyweight strap.
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