SHANE MCGUIGAN is backing Caroline Dubois to one day become the undisputed female lightweight champion.
Katie Taylor currently holds all the belts in the 135lb weight class but will make a second attempt to wrestle all the hardware at 140lbs from Chantelle Cameron on November 25 in Dublin, six months on from the loss to Cameron in the Irish capital.
After an unbeaten seven-fight start to her own career Dubois has looked like a legitimate heir to Taylorโs throne. Five of her opponents havenโt heard the final bell which makes her one of the heaviest hitters in womenโs boxing. On September 30 the 22-year-old headlines a Boxxer card at York Hall where she faces the vastly more experienced Magali Rodriguez, 22-6-4, for the IBO lightweight belt.
โItโs a big step for her,โ her trainer McGuigan told Boxing News.
โThis is early on in her career but sheโs more than capable of winning these fights and I think sheโs more than capable of winning world titles and being undisputed. I keep barking on saying how good she is. I genuinely believe sheโs the face of female boxing especially in the lightweight division. She can really fight [and] sheโs got a fan-friendly style. She used to be more of a boxer [but] now sheโs sitting down on her punches, sheโs getting knockouts.โ
Rodriguez, 31, has campaigned at bantamweight, super-bantamweight and super-lightweight during a career which began in 2009. McGuigan picked out the Mexicanโs last fight against 2016 Olympic Gold medallist Estelle Mossely five months ago to prove how much of a jump in class this is for Dubois.
โThis girlโs just gone 10 rounds and drew with Estelle Mossely and she dropped her as well. Itโs a big step up but it’s one sheโs more than capable of winning. Her [second] last opponent (Yanina del Carmen Lescano) got a split decision loss to Estelle Mosley, but I actually watched the fight, I thought she won it, so it just shows you where sheโs at. Maybe we can get that fight with Estelle Mossely down the line but for now itโs [about] securing some form of title and stamping her authority on the division.
โSheโs number one on Boxrec but she needs to go out and get the belts now to prove it [and it] depends what Katie Taylor wants to do. If she stays at 140 or this one with Chantelle Cameron might be her last fight, you never know. Sheโs been an amazing servant to boxing but Caroline wants to get her hands on a lot of those belts.โ