A dominant performance from Daniel Dubois on Saturday may fast-track the youngster up the heavyweight tree.
Timing is everything in boxing. Inside and outside of the ropes, the decision of “when” can impact the course of a fight or the trajectory of a career in the blink of an eye.
At 21 years, Britain’s latest heavyweight star Daniel Dubois is still just a puppy, but a puppy who has proved in an emphatic style that his bite belongs with some of the bigger dogs of the division.
Winning the vacant British heavyweight title against former GB teammate Nathan Gorman on Saturday night at London’s O2 Arena was a marquee win for ‘DDD’, with his record growing to 12-0 (11 KO) following turning over into the pros in 2017.
In a fight that pitted two of Frank Warren’s young heavyweight guns against each other, the reward far outweighed the risk of defeat for both men; at ages 21 and 23, a setback of this scale shouldn’t prove to hamper the long-term aspirations of the defeated Gorman.
In the heat of battle, Dubois showed poise, power, precision and perilous spite in stopping the well-respected cousin of Tyson Fury, having put the fighter trained by Ricky Hatton down twice during the five rounds of action.
It was Dubois’ coming out party on the big stage. It was a statement of intent from a young man who will have woken up on Sunday morning with his ears burning to the conversations of what is to follow for his life in the sport.
Dubois — still learning his craft in front of the camera and behind a microphone— played speculation of his future with a predictably straight bat.
“Every fight is a learning fight,” Dubois stated post-fight. “There is a lot to improve on. It’s great to win the British title. I wanted to control the fight behind my jab and then land the right hand,” he said. “ There’s still a lot to work on, and I’m grateful for everything. Who I fight next is up to my team, promoter Frank Warren, my dad...”
Daniel is right to be cautious in his approach to future climbs, but how Frank Warren and his team decide to move with Dubois over the next 12 months will be a fascinating blend of patience and proactiveness.
At such a tender age, with so much still to learn, an expectancy to win the British title outright will be strong within the camp of Dubois. Despite his clinical finish of Gorman, there are still concerns over the defence of the newly crowned British champion, with his upright style expected to be tested more than it was against a game Gorman.
Domestic duels with the likes of David Price, David Allen, Sam Sexton and even Hughie Fury will be touted as appropriate steps at British level for Dubois; whether Warren is able to make cross-promotional fights for his man is the question if Dubois is to progress whilst still fighting at domestic level. I can’t see another in-house fight between Joe Joyce and Dubois making much sense for Queensbury Promotions.
The foundations are being set for the future of ‘DDD’. With most heavys not maturing into the division until their late twenties, Dubois’ time will come once we have concluded the Fury-Wilder-Ruiz-Joshua et. al jigsaw; the Dubois generation may be just around the corner. Throwing ‘Dynamite’ into the mix at the top of the tree as a next move could prove catastrophic for the future of one of Britain’s hottest prospects.
It was easy to lose the story of Daniel Dubois amongst a crazy weekend of sport in Britain. Lewis Hamilton winning the British Grand Prix, Novak Djokovic winning at Wimbledon and England’s cricketers winning a maiden World Cup, however, Saturday night on the banks of the River Thames, Daniel Dubois may have just finished penning the first chapters of a career that could eclipse some of London’s greatest sporting success stories.
Until now, his timing has been spot on. What comes next is an intriguing dilemma of stick or twist.
