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English boxer (born 1997) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Daniel Dubois (born 6 September 1997) is a British professional boxer. He has held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) heavyweight title since June 2024.[3] Previously, he held the World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight title (Regular version) from 2022 to 2023. At regional level, he has held multiple heavyweight championships, including the British and Commonwealth titles from 2019 to 2020. As an amateur, he was a five-time national junior titlist and British champion.
Daniel Dubois | |
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| Born | 6 September 1997 London, England |
| Other names |
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| Statistics | |
| Weight(s) | Heavyweight |
| Height | 6 ft 5 in (196 cm)[1] |
| Reach | 78 in (198 cm)[1] |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record[2] | |
| Total fights | 24 |
| Wins | 22 |
| Wins by KO | 21 |
| Losses | 2 |
His father took him to the boxing gym at the age of nine to stay out of trouble in South London.[4] He trains at the Peacock Gym in Canning Town, working under Tony and Martin Bowers.[5][6] Dubois had around 75 amateur bouts. He won two English schoolboy titles, two junior ABAs plus the CYPs. Won the British Seniors. He spent a year and a half as part of the GB Elite set-up in Sheffield and boxed for England around a dozen times, competing at the European Youth championships twice and winning gold medals at multi-nations in Tammer (Finland) and Brandenburg (Germany).[4] He left the amateurs early with only a handful of senior amateur bouts. He was on the Great Britain Olympic team with the plan to compete at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, however he opted to turn professional instead,[4] signing with boxing promoter Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions.[5]
Dubois' first fight as a professional was a knockout win in the first 35 seconds of the first round against Marcus Kelly in April 2017.[7] In his fourth fight, he knocked out Mauricio Barragan, a late substitute, in the second round to win the vacant WBC Youth heavyweight title.[8][9] In October 2017, he knocked out AJ Carter in the first round to claim the Southern Area heavyweight title.[10][11] He won the English heavyweight title in his eighth fight in June 2018, beating journeyman Tom Little by stoppage in the fifth round.[12] He won the WBO European title in March 2019, beating former WBO heavyweight title challenger, Răzvan Cojanu, in two rounds.[13] Dubois was taken the full distance for the first time by veteran Kevin Johnson in October 2018, winning on points after ten rounds,[14] and beat Richard Lartey in the fourth round in April 2019.[15][16]
In July 2019, he beat Nathan Gorman by knockout in the fifth round to improve his record to 12 wins, 11 by stoppage, and win the vacant British heavyweight title.[6][17] Boxing journalist Steve Bunce said he “...fought like an old, seasoned bruiser, his feet flawless, his jab a stiff weapon inherited from relics of the ring".[6] BBC boxing correspondent Mike Costello described him as "...one of the brightest prospects in the sport at the moment."[17]
In his next fight, Dubois faced Ebenezer Tetteh. Dubois blasted Tetteh out in the first round, dropping him twice in the process.[18]
After that, Dubois faced Japanese heavyweight Kyotaro Fujimoto. Fujimoto was overmatched from the beginning, fighting to survive from the opening bell. In the second round, Dubois connected on a right hand that knocked out Fujimoto.[19]
On 29 August 2020, Dubois had another dominant win, this time against Ricardo Snijders. Dubois managed to drop his opponent three times in the first round. The first round would end up being the last that Snijders would survive, as the referee waved the fight off after Dubois dropped his opponent for the fourth time.[20]
On 28 November 2020, Dubois made the first defence of his British and Commonwealth titles, alongside his WBC Silver and WBO International titles, in a highly anticipated domestic matchup against Joe Joyce at the Church House in London, with the vacant European title also on the line. In a closely contested fight that had implications for future world title hopes, Dubois was landing the harder and cleaner punches while Joyce stayed at range behind powerful jabs. The repeated accurate jabs from Joyce caused swelling to the left eye of Dubois from the second round. In the tenth, after another hard jab landed on his now-swollen-shut eye, Dubois went down on one knee, allowing the referee to count him out to suffer the first loss of his career.[21] Following the fight it was revealed that Dubois had suffered a broken left orbital bone and nerve damage around the eye.[22]
After a layoff of over six months, Dubois returned to the ring on 5 June 2021 to face Bogdan Dinu in Telford. Dubois won the bout by second-round knockout, winning the vacant WBA interim heavyweight title in the process. The win also made him the mandatory challenger for the WBA (Regular) title held by undefeated Trevor Bryan.[23]
Dubois made his US debut on the undercard of Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley on 29 August 2021. He faced Joe Cusumano, and prevailed via first-round technical knockout victory. In his post-fight interview, he expressed interest in challenging Trevor Bryan for his WBA (Regular) title.[24]
On 11 June 2022, Dubois defeated Trevor Bryan by knockout in the fourth round to become the WBA (Regular) heavyweight champion in front of approximately 500 spectators at Casino Miami in Florida on a card promoted by Don King.[25][26]
Dubois made the first defence of his WBA (Regular) heavyweight title against Kevin Lerena on 3 December 2022, at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, in London, England on the undercard of Tyson Fury vs. Derek Chisora III.[27] Although he was knocked down in the first round 3 times, he prevailed and won by 3rd round technical knockout.[28]
On 26 August 2023, Dubois challenged unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in Wrocław, Poland for Usyk's WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring titles.[29] While Usyk retained his titles via ninth-round stoppage, there was controversy surrounding the events of the fifth round, when Usyk dropped to the canvas following a punch from Dubois that was ruled a low blow by referee Luis Pabon. Accordingly, Usyk was given a maximum of five minutes to recover, but despite declaring he was ready to continue, Pabon urged Usyk to take more time out. Usyk ultimately used three minutes and forty-five seconds before the fight resumed. Usyk forced Dubois to take a knee in the eighth round and again in the ninth round, where he was counted out.[30][31] According to CompuBox stats, Usyk had outlanded Dubois in every round of the fight, landing 88 of 359 punches thrown (24.5%) to Dubois' 47 of 290 (16.2%). Dubois failed to land double digits in any round of the fight.[32]
Debate followed regarding the fifth round, many observers believed the low blow was a legal punch and thus potentially resulted in a KO victory for Dubois. In his post-fight interview, Dubois said, "I didn’t think that was a low blow. I thought that landed, and I’ve been cheated out of victory tonight.” However, Usyk's promoter Alex Krassyuk argued "The belly button is the line. Anything low of that is a low blow." This argument was echoed by others including boxers Tony Bellew and Liam Smith.[33][34][35]
In November 2023, Riyadh Season announced a blockbuster card which would take place on on December 23, 2023 with Anthony Joshua vs. Otto Wallin as the headline. One of the undercard bouts announced was Dubois against American heavyweight Jarrell Miller. Miller was coming into this bout having defeated Lucas Browne in March 2023.[36]
Miller weighed in at 333 pounds, nearly 100 pounds more than Dubois, who came in at 239 pounds.[37] Dubois put on a show and likely the most entertaining victory on the card, stopping Miller in the tenth round. Dubois seemed anxious early on from the pressure which was being applied by Miller, but as the as the rounds went by, Dubois picked his shots and landed heavy punishment on Miller. By the tenth round, Dubois was in control and landing power shots. Miller stood and took the punishment before the referee stopped the fight with only 10 seconds of the round left.[38][39] Both boxers embraced at the end of the fight. Dubois said the confidence which was missing had come back after this fight. Speaking to DAZN after the fight, he said, "It really mattered tonight. I had to dig deep. I came through it and I showed my heart."[40] Dubois landed a career-high 208 punches on Miller, which was a 40% connect rate. Miller only connected 107 of his 379 punches thrown.[41]
On 15 April 2024 it was confirmed that Dubois would face IBF top ranked contender Filip Hrgović in Riyadh on 1 June, co-featuring on a card that was headlined by a bout between fellow heavyweights Zhilei Zhang and Deontay Wilder.[42] In what was considered his biggest win to date, Dubois defeated Hrgović via eighth-round TKO, doctor's stoppage due to cuts. The win meant that Dubois won the vacant IBF interim heavyweight title.[43]
On 26 June 2024 Dubois was elevated to full IBF champion after Oleksandr Usyk vacated the belt.[44] It was announced that he would be making his first defence of the title against former two-time unified champion Anthony Joshua at Wembley Stadium in London on 21 September.[45]
The fighters weighed in the day before their fight in front of Nelson's Column at Trafalgar Square, in London. Joshua weighed in at 252.5 lbs, almost 4 lbs heavier than Dubois' weight of 248.6 lbs. This was marginally heavier for Joshua compared to his fight against Francis Ngannou 6 months previously, while Dubois' weight was a new career-heaviest for him, 3 lbs heavier than his previous record.[46][47]
Dubois, despite being the reigning IBF champion, walked to the ring first "very composed, almost seemingly too relaxed" whilst Joshua entered the ring second and "seemed tight during his ring walk", according to Joseph Santoliquito of The Ring.[48] Dubois retained his title by defeating Joshua by KO in the fifth round after a dominant performance. The result was considered a major upset, as Dubois was the pre-betting underdog going into fight.[49] Dubois immediately started boxing aggressively, and knocked Joshua to the canvas at the end of the first round with a huge overhand right to Joshua's chin. Joshua was able to beat the count, but seemed to be on unsteady legs as the bell signalled the end of the first round. Momentum seemed to be in Dubois' favour, and he knocked Joshua down for the second time in round 3 with a left to the chin: Joshua's gloves had touched the canvas, but the referee allowed Dubois to continue unloading punches which eventually did trigger an official knockdown. The fourth round saw Joshua hit the canvas twice more, although one of those occasions was ruled a slip. In the fifth round, Joshua seemed to find a way back into the fight when he landed a right hand which seemed to force Dubois back into a corner. However, Dubois caught Joshua on the chin with a counter right hand as Joshua was attempting to land a right uppercut of his own, which sent Joshua sprawling to the canvas again, and this time unable to beat the count. The fight was called off after 59 seconds of the fifth round, with Dubois retaining his IBF heavyweight title via fifth round knockout.[48][50] After the fight, a victorious Dubois questioned the crowd who had been largely pro-AJ prior to the opening bell: "Are you not entertained?"[51]
Dubois' father is from Grenada.[52] His younger sister Caroline Dubois is also a boxer. She has represented Great Britain and in 2018 became the -60 kg European Junior, World Youth and Youth Olympic champion.[53]
| 24 fights | 22 wins | 2 losses |
|---|---|---|
| By knockout | 21 | 2 |
| By decision | 1 | 0 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | Win | 22–2 | Anthony Joshua | KO | 5 (12), 0:59 | 21 Sep 2024 | Wembley Stadium, London, England | Retained IBF heavyweight title |
| 23 | Win | 21–2 | Filip Hrgović | TKO | 8 (12), 0:57 | 1 Jun 2024 | Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | Won vacant IBF interim heavyweight title |
| 22 | Win | 20–2 | Jarrell Miller | TKO | 10 (10), 2:52 | 23 Dec 2023 | Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | |
| 21 | Loss | 19–2 | Oleksandr Usyk | KO | 9 (12), 1:48 | 26 Aug 2023 | Stadion Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland | For WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, and The Ring heavyweight titles |
| 20 | Win | 19–1 | Kevin Lerena | TKO | 3 (12), 3:00 | 3 Dec 2022 | Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, England | Retained WBA (Regular) heavyweight title |
| 19 | Win | 18–1 | Trevor Bryan | KO | 4 (12), 1:58 | 11 Jun 2022 | Casino Miami, Miami, Florida, US | Won WBA (Regular) heavyweight title |
| 18 | Win | 17–1 | Joe Cusumano | TKO | 1 (10), 2:10 | 29 Aug 2021 | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, Ohio, US | |
| 17 | Win | 16–1 | Bogdan Dinu | KO | 2 (12), 0:31 | 5 Jun 2021 | Telford International Centre, Telford, England | Won vacant WBA interim heavyweight title |
| 16 | Loss | 15–1 | Joe Joyce | KO | 10 (12), 0:36 | 28 Nov 2020 | Church House, London, England | Lost British, Commonwealth, WBC Silver, and WBO International heavyweight titles; For vacant European heavyweight title |
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Ricardo Snijders | TKO | 2 (12), 0:20 | 29 Aug 2020 | BT Sport Studios, London, England | Retained WBO International heavyweight title |
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Kyotaro Fujimoto | KO | 2 (12), 2:10 | 21 Dec 2019 | Copper Box Arena, London, England | Retained WBO International heavyweight title; Won vacant WBC Silver heavyweight title |
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Ebenezer Tetteh | TKO | 1 (12), 2:10 | 27 Sep 2019 | Royal Albert Hall, London, England | Won vacant Commonwealth and WBO International heavyweight titles |
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Nathan Gorman | KO | 5 (12), 2:41 | 13 Jul 2019 | The O2 Arena, London, England | Won vacant British heavyweight title |
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Richard Lartey | KO | 4 (10), 1:50 | 27 Apr 2019 | Wembley Arena, London, England | Won vacant WBO Global heavyweight title |
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Răzvan Cojanu | KO | 2 (10), 2:48 | 8 Mar 2019 | Royal Albert Hall, London, England | Won vacant WBO European heavyweight title |
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Kevin Johnson | PTS | 10 | 6 Oct 2018 | Leicester Arena, Leicester, England | |
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Tom Little | TKO | 5 (10), 0:58 | 23 Jun 2018 | The O2 Arena, London, England | Won vacant English heavyweight title |
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | DL Jones | TKO | 3 (10), 2:23 | 24 Feb 2018 | York Hall, London, England | Retained Southern Area heavyweight title |
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Dorian Darch | TKO | 2 (10), 0:51 | 9 Dec 2017 | Copper Box Arena, London, England | |
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | AJ Carter | KO | 1 (10), 0:48 | 16 Sep 2017 | Copper Box Arena, London, England | Won vacant Southern Area heavyweight title |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Mauricio Barragan | KO | 2 (10), 1:41 | 8 Jul 2017 | Copper Box Arena, London, England | Won vacant WBC Youth heavyweight title |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | David Howe | KO | 1 (4), 0:40 | 20 May 2017 | Copper Box Arena, London, England | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Blaise Mendouo | TKO | 2 (4), 0:48 | 22 Apr 2017 | Leicester Arena, Leicester, England | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Marcus Kelly | TKO | 1 (4), 0:35 | 8 Apr 2017 | Manchester Arena, Manchester, England |
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