Daniel Dubois (/dʊˈbwɑː/) is a British professional boxer who has held the WBA (Regular) heavyweight title since June 2022. He has previously held multiple regional 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. He is known for his punching power and currently holds a 94% knockout-to-win percentage.[3]
| Daniel Dubois | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Nickname(s) |
|
| Weight(s) | Heavyweight |
| Height | 6 ft 5 in (196 cm)[1] |
| Reach | 78 in (198 cm)[1] |
| Born | 1997 Greenwich, London, England |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record[2] | |
| Total fights | 19 |
| Wins | 18 |
| Wins by KO | 17 |
| Losses | 1 |
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, Razvan 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, while 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' father is from Grenada.[27] 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.[28]
| 19 fights | 18 wins | 1 loss |
|---|---|---|
| By knockout | 17 | 1 |
| By decision | 1 | 0 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | — | — | Kevin Lerena | — | — | 3 Dec 2022 | Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, England | Defending 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 | The SSE 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 |
| Sporting positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regional boxing titles | ||||
| Vacant Title last held by Dominic Akinlade |
Southern Area heavyweight champion 16 September 2017 – 23 June 2018 |
Vacant | ||
| Vacant Title last held by John McDermott |
English heavyweight champion 23 June 2018 – 13 July 2019 |
Vacant Title next held by Fabio Wardley | ||
| Vacant Title last held by Christian Hammer |
WBO European heavyweight champion 8 March 2018 – April 2018 Vacated |
Vacant Title next held by Ali Eren Demirezen | ||
| Vacant Title last held by Hughie Fury |
British heavyweight champion 13 July 2019 – 28 November 2020 |
Succeeded by | ||
| Vacant Title last held by Joe Joyce |
Commonwealth heavyweight champion 27 September 2019 – 28 November 2020 | |||
| Vacant Title last held by Dillian Whyte |
WBO International heavyweight champion 27 September 2019 – 28 November 2020 | |||
| WBC Silver heavyweight champion 21 December 2019 – 28 November 2020 | ||||
| Minor world boxing titles | ||||
| Vacant Title last held by Tom Schwarz |
WBC Youth heavyweight champion 8 July 2017 – September 2017 Vacated |
Vacant Title next held by Peter Kadiru | ||
| Major world boxing titles | ||||
| Vacant Title last held by Trevor Bryan |
WBA heavyweight champion Interim title 5 June 2021 – 25 August 2021 Stripped |
Title discontinued | ||
| Preceded by Trevor Bryan |
WBA heavyweight champion Regular title 11 June 2022 − present |
Incumbent | ||