Heavyweight Daniel Dubois goes into his fight against Kyotaro Fujimoto at the Copper Box on Saturday night with promoter Frank Warren claiming he could be challenging the big guns at world level “inside 12 months”.
The World Boxing Council silver and World Boxing Organisation international heavyweight titles are at stake against a Japanese fighter ranked No 13 with the World Boxing Association.
But with Dubois – who has 13 victories, including 12 knockouts – having sparred with leading heavyweights such as Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury, Warren claimed that if he “could make the fight with Dubois and Joshua now” he would “sign the fight fully confident” of the 22-year-old winning.
Dubois has already claimed the British and Commonwealth titles this year, and victory on Saturday sets up a fascinating 2020 for the fighter who is trained by Martin Bowers at the Peacock Gym in Canning Town.
It has been a huge year in the Dubois household in south London, with his 18-year-old sister Caroline named the BBC’s Young Sports Personality of the Year after being crowned European champion for a fourth time as well as winning the Olympic Youth lightweight title. Dubois revealed recently that she had even pretended to be a boy called Colin to gain admission to train at her local sports club.
She has won all 40 of her amateur bouts and will go into Olympic qualifying for Tokyo in the new year. “While I go for the knockouts, my sister is the better boxer,” Daniel told Telegraph Sport.
Warren said: “Daniel wants to go out with a bang to set himself up for 2020. All the big guns are fighting next year, Joshua regained his titles and has two mandatories, while Tyson is fighting Deontay Wilder in February and they may end up in a trilogy fight in the summer.
“But when the dust has all settled, these guys will have a mandatory and maybe one of the titles will be freed up. It is Daniel’s job to win on Saturday and then by, say, October to get himself into a mandatory position to fight for a world title.
“This is the chance to get a WBA ranking. Kyotaro is 21-1 and he lost that fight eight years ago. He has a fighting background and was a world champion kick-boxer. Daniel cannot take anything for granted.”
Dubois has taken the words of Warren to heart, saying: “I’ve not underestimated him because I prepare for every fight like it is for a world title. I would never overlook anyone. But I’m ready to be pushed on, and it’s about getting the right fights as Frank maps out a route to being a mandatory challenger to the titles next year.
“I would definitely go in with someone like Joshua and it is what I have been dreaming of since the day I started boxing, being in massive fights and winning them.”
Also on the card, Welsh middleweight Liam Williams takes on American Alantez Fox, a quality operator and 6ft 4in southpaw, in a final eliminator to fight for the WBO middleweight title, held by Demetrius Andrade.