Caroline Dubois added the WBO world lightweight title to her WBC crown with a unanimous points victory over fellow Briton Terry Harper. The London-born younger sister of heavyweight Daniel Dubois defeated Harper 98-91, 97-92, 98-91 at the London Olympia on Sunday night.
Dubois initially struggled to reach her opponent, but knocked her out in the sixth round and never looked back as she moved one step closer to unifying the division.
When later asked if that was her aim now, she told Sky Sports: “100% – that’s the plan. I just want big fights from now on. I’ve got two more fights this year and I want to make them the two biggest fights.”
There had been verbal exchanges between the fighters during preparation for the contest and Harper pushed Dubois in a tense situation on Wednesday, but he insisted there was nothing in animosity on their part.
She said: “It was never personal to me. It was always personal to Terry. I’m a fighter and I’m an entertainer, I put myself out there for you guys, I talk to entertain you guys, and that’s why this fight was the most talked about, the most exciting.”
In a tough opening round, neither fighter landed meaningful jabs and Harper easily sidestepped a wide left hook from Dubois, although the 29-year-old got a straight right hand through Dubois in the second.
Dubois enjoyed the better of the close-quarter action in the third round and as the pace increased in the fourth, it was she who began to score, landing several blows to the body and a solid right hook.
Harper largely managed to keep herself out of range, but was caught by a heavy left that sent her to the canvas with 11 seconds remaining in the sixth round, to the obvious delight of Dubois.
Sensing an opportunity, the 25-year-old shifted gears and with Harper bleeding heavily after a clash of heads in the eighth, she went toe-to-toe with her opponent, knowing she needed something special in the closing rounds.
Both remained on their feet after a tough final two minutes, but a confident Dubois ultimately got the decision she wanted.
Previously, Ellie Scottney had unified the super-bantamweight division by defeating Mayeli Flores on points and regained her WBA belt along with the WBO, WBC and IBF world titles she already held.
