WORLD lightweight champion Caroline Dubois has talked up the importance of women role models on her journey to boxing’s summit.

During an interview with Press Association to mark International Women’s Day, British boxer Dubois reflected on her first steps into the sport under the watchful eye of late trainer Tony Disson and the impact of the London Games in 2012.

Current WBO-belt holder Dubois remembers watching Katie Taylor, Nicola Adams and Claressa Shields at the home Olympics not long after she first stepped into the ring, and believes it was crucial in showing a pathway for aspiring female boxers.

“Once I started, I remember the 2012 Olympics,” Dubois said.

“That was the year women were allowed to fight at the Olympics and Katie Taylor was a stand-out, Nicola Adams was another, then Claressa Shields, the three Olympic gold medallists, and they were the three women who changed the game of women’s boxing.

“It really showed the level, the class and the ability that was capable and once those three were revealed, I was a massive fan of all three and they gave me a sense of purpose for what my career could look like.

“All three of them opened the door a little bit more for me and made the journey a lot easier.”

While the aforementioned trio showed Dubois a route to the top, it was late trainer Disson that injected belief into the electric boxer from an early age.

After Dubois pretended to be a boy during her first sessions in the gym at the age of nine, she was able to quickly convert Disson to a fan of women’s boxing.

Disson would tell anyone that listened how “special” Dubois was and that she would make it to the Olympics, which occurred in 2018 when she won a silver medal.

Dubois recalled: “Yeah, I mean he was a legend. I remember when I was at Dale Youth and he was one of the people that would just bang on about me.

“My first ever amateur fight, he was there in my corner. I think he was a little bit apprehensive about women’s boxing.

“Then I came onto the scene and once I came on, I converted him straight away and he was the loudest cheerleader.

“He was banging on it everywhere I’d go, everywhere I’d go to train or fight, he would be there saying, ‘you know this girl’s gonna be special’, and he was definitely one of my loudest supporters.

“Yeah, it’s pretty amazing when you can go out there and you can feel the words of somebody. Obviously, he passed away in the Grenfell Tower fire, but I’m happy that I could fulfil that promise for him.”

Disson never got to witness Dubois become world champion, but with every passing fight the London lightweight adds further weight to the argument that she is special and set to be the face of female boxing for the next decade.

Ahead of a blockbuster April 5 showdown with Terri Harper in her home city, Most Valuable Promotions fighter Dubois is proud of her journey to date.

“There are definitely moments in time where I just catch myself, when I’m travelling, when I have a fight coming up and even this fight coming up now, the unification,” Dubois said.

“I’m so young in the game and I’m already in these big, big fights on these big platforms, and I’ve got the opportunity to become unified and then undisputed champion. Then when you look at the journey for me from nine to now, it is a bit bizarre, it’s a little bit crazy.

“It’s been a great journey so far.”