With a womens lightweight title unification on the horizon when Caroline Dubois takes on Terri Harper on April 5, both fighters sat down with Sky Sports for the latest iteration of The Gloves Are Off. Check out some of what both fighters had to say during a face to face conversation filled with tension.
Harper on when she first became aware of Dubois
“I saw Caroline as soon as she turned professional. I did use to be a big fan of her. I think she’s a good boxer, she’s got a great style but I think once I got to know what her attitude is like, arrogance,
it kind of puts a bad taste in your mouth.”
Dubois on her beef with Harper
“There isn’t. I think, for me, I’m a competitive person. I mean, I’m looking at her, this is a woman coming to take my belt, coming to take everything I’ve been fighting for since I was nine years old, coming to take my legacy that I believe I can lay, and obviously my future. If she wins, she’s taken all of that. So obviously there’s that energy from me. I don’t understand how [Harper] can call yourself a professional fighter and you’re backing away from that energy.”
Harper on whether Dubois has been chasing her for a fight
“I feel like this is a fight she needs. She’s probably disappointed that I’m the one sat in front of her, not Rhiannon Dixon, but I like to prove people wrong — Caroline being one of them. And this fight, for me, is not about the belts. Like, it’s nice to win the belts but it’s even nicer to beat Dubois and that’s what I’m doing it for, just to say I beat Caroline.”
Dubois on facing Harper
“I said she’s irrelevant and she is. It’s not about her. I’m looking through her, I’m looking for the belts. That’s what it’s about.”
Dubois on becoming more outspoken and playing the agitator role
“I think it’s my energy…I would rather be the wicked than the weak and that’s just my intensity.”
Harper on Dubois taking her lightly
“I’m glad she thinks it’s going to be easy. It’s good. She’ll probably miss a few more training sessions. Good. Brilliant…Caroline gives me that fire in my belly and just more to prove doubters wrong and Caroline wrong.”
Dubois on her assessment of Harper
“I think she’s checked out, mentally. I think she’s a weak person. She doesn’t believe herself, but that’s not really my business, not really my problem…I think that fight against Sandy Ryan showed a lot. I think that fight against Rhiannon Dixon showed a lot…I was like ‘you’re a three weight world champion and you’re fighting like that?! Damn.’
“I don’t rate you. I don’t rate what you’ve done, I don’t rate what you are as an athlete, as a fighter, as a person. I don’t rate you.”
