Claressa Shields on her protégé Caroline Dubois: 'I tell her to make her own path, to leave her own mark'
Claressa Shields and Caroline Dubois wil appear on Sky Sports after signing with promotional team BOXXER; Shields says: "She has a great personality also. She is shy now! But she can talk more trash than me!"
Wednesday 8 September 2021 15:43, UK
Caroline Dubois has been tipped to follow the feted example of Claressa Shields by her boxing idol.
Team GB Olympian Dubois and her hero, the esteemed American Shields, have both signed with promotional team BOXXER as part of an exciting new era for boxing on Sky Sports.
Shields won her first of two Olympic gold medals in 2012 as a 17-year-old and remains an inspiration for Dubois, 20, who has now turned professional after going to the Tokyo Games.
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"Caroline has a great future in front of her," Shields told Sky Sports after revealing how they have struck up a friendship over social media.
"She has plenty of time. She asks me 'how do I deal with this and that?'
"I give her the best advice that I can. She has run with it.
"I'm super proud of her. I'm happy to be her hero. But she's on her own path. I tell her not to worry about what happened before, to make her own path, to leave her own mark.
"She has the potential to do that. She has a great personality also. She is shy now! But she can talk more trash than me!
"I was quiet coming up. I said nothing until I won my second Olympics.
"Her brother [the heavyweight Daniel Dubois] is not on social media, he is a very hard worker. He had the fight with Joe Joyce but was straight back in the gym. That speaks for itself. And now his younger sister is an Olympian."
Dubois told Sky Sports about Shields: "Watching her do what she did in the Olympics two times. Watching her as an amateur and a pro show how good she is, it's very inspiring.
"She's a talented fighter. If you look at her story outside the ring and what she's had to deal with, it's amazing."
Lightweight Dubois is setting herself high standards:
"My weight there is that depth," she added. "You've got Mikaela Mayer, Terri Harper, Natasha Jonas. A lot of people who look good, a lot of people who are world championship level and it's a busy division.
"I definitely feel like we're still waiting for that No 1. I feel like the level that is in my weight, I can match it with the best of them straight away now.
"I want to be someone that people remember. The way you remember Sugar Ray Leonard, or even Marvin Hagler, Muhammad Ali."
Sky Sports Boxing schedule
September 11
Oscar Valdez vs Robson Conceicao - WBC super-featherweight title
September 25 - Sky Sports Box Office
Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk - IBF, WBA, WBO heavyweight titles
Lawrence Okolie vs Dilan Prasovic - WBO cruiserweight title
October 2
Chris Eubank Jr vs Sven Elbir
David Avanesyan vs Liam Taylor - European welterweight title
Richard Riakpohre vs Krzysztof Twardowski
Mikael Lawal vs Steven Ward
October 16
Savannah Marshall vs Lolita Muzeya - WBO middleweight title
Hughie Fury vs Christian Hammer
October 24
Jamel Herring vs Shakur Stevenson - WBO super-featherweight title
November 6
BOXXER tournament
December 18
Josh Taylor vs Jack Catterall - undisputed super-lightweight title
