FRANK WARREN has insisted that, unless Daniel Dubois changes his ways, he could be staring down the barrel of a far less glamorous future.
It is widely documented that the former world heavyweight champion was involved in a pre-fight party, just a few hours before his clash with Oleksandr Usyk in July.
Back then, ‘Dynamite’ found himself on the receiving end of a truly dominant fifth-round finish, losing his IBF strap in the process.
It was not long, however, before footage of Dubois, 22-3 (21 KOs), surrounded by noise and commotion at a particularly large gathering, had emerged on social media.
Not only had the gathering taken place at his own house, but it was later revealed that Dubois’ father, Stan, had arranged something similar ahead of his son’s more successful outing against Anthony Joshua in September 2024.
But regardless, it is fair to say that promoter Warren was not best pleased to discover that Dubois, a fighter he has guided since his professional debut, was involved in such antics ahead of his rematch with Usyk.
In fact, the Queensberry Promotions boss insisted that a meeting with the 28-year-old, and his team, was in order, only for the hard-hitting contender to then part ways with trainer Don Charles soon after.
But while his new head coach is yet to be revealed, Warren has now confirmed that Team Dubois nonetheless came together for a discussion about his future.
“We had a meeting a couple of weeks ago,” he told Boxing News. “The verdict was that everybody better learn from it [the pre-fight party], otherwise he [Dubois] won’t have a career.”
Not long after that meeting, or perhaps even during it, Dubois had been presented with an opportunity to face Joseph Parker, a man he was supposed to fight in February, on October 25.
But instead of returning to the O2 Arena, London, next month, the heavyweight contender is now gearing up for a comeback fight early next year.
“Daniel’s got to get himself back in the swing,” Warren continued. “He won’t fight again until the new year – he’s got an injury.
“We were trying to make Joe [Parker] against Daniel for this October [25] show, but he’s injured, and that’s how Fabio [Wardley] jumped in.
“He’s got to fight somebody in the top 10; he’s got to re-establish himself. He’s 28 [years old] now – there’s no warm-ups.”
