Daniel Dubois’ sister Caroline Dubois has opened up on her acrimonious family split in a candid interview.
Caroline, one of eleven children, was raised in a single-parent family by her dad, Dave – who was a big proponent for her and many of her siblings starting boxing.
GETTYCaroline and Daniel come from a boxing family, headed by their father Dave[/caption]
Her brother Daniel is, of course, the IBF heavyweight champion and recently shocked the world by knocking out Anthony Joshua in front of over 98,000 people at Wembley Stadium.
Meanwhile, younger brothers Prince (20) and Soloman (12) are also amateur boxers.
Caroline, like Daniel, has enjoyed a fruitful career which includes representing her country at the 2020 Summer Olympics and a 10-0 run in the pros thus far.
Dave acted as a mentor for Caroline and Daniel as they embarked on their journeys in the paid ranks but his relationship with his daughter has since turned sour.
Caroline has cut off all communication with her father and moved out from their family home.
Daniel and Dave have both come out and commented on the situation in recent weeks.
But until she sat down to do an interview with Seconds Out last week, Caroline hadn’t given her side of the story.
“I first saw [a clip of] the interview on the week of Daniel’s fight,” said Caroline referring to her brother’s comments on the split.
“I kept getting tagged into it. They were like, ‘Oh, why are Caroline and her dad not speaking?’
“And he was like, ‘Ah, because my dad doesn’t agree with female boxing.’
The siblings are making waves in the prosGETTY
“And then I watched the interview [with my dad] and he was saying that he didn’t agree with female boxing and that he saw a change in me.
“I just think that’s absolute BS. That’s trash. That’s a complete lie. I started boxing when I was nine years old, I’m 23 years old now, so that’s over 10 years I’ve been boxing.
“And in all the years coming through there was never any, ‘Oh, I don’t really know how I feel about female boxing.’
“If you look at the past and how things were, ask any of my old coaches, my dad was there.
“He was there, he was ranting and raving. One of my biggest flag bearers.
“Like, ‘I really support this girl, I really want to see her do well.’ There was never any dislike to the fact that I was a female boxer…
“That’s not the problem. I think I would rather he just be honest about it and just say, ‘I don’t like her,’ or whatever…
“I think my dad wants me to act a certain way, be a certain way. I was nine years old when I started boxing – he says that I’ve changed.
Daniel Dubois – InstagramThey used to work together with McGuigan[/caption]
Caroline stayed put while Daniel leftCHRIS DEAN/BOXXER
“The only reason I started boxing was because I took my life into my own hands and I decided that I wanted more for myself. I truly wanted more for myself.”
Caroline is now making her own way in her boxing career and stands as WBC ‘interim’ lightweight champion on the verge of a world title opportunity.
She is trained by Shane McGuigan who used to also coach her brother.
While Daniel left the gym last year to work with veteran trainer Don Charles, Caroline made her own decision to stay put and is still trained by McGuigan to this day.
“My dad’s got 11 kids in total, with my mum he’s got seven, and I’m the middle child,” she continued, “One thing you know about the middle child is that sometimes they get overlooked and they don’t get that attention and they have to fight for it.
“My dad was only paying attention to the boxers and to the boys. He didn’t really focus about the girls, by his own admission, he didn’t pay attention to my sisters.
“And so I guess as a young kid, you see that and you think, ‘Okay, what can I do?’ And I said, ‘I want to box.’
“I pestered him, I pestered him and he saw, ‘She truly has got a fire in her that’s different from her brothers. My dad put Daniel in boxing, but with me, I asked for it.
Caroline is 10-0 as a proCHRIS DEAN/BOXXER
“I guess what it was is he just wanted me to stay a certain way. But I was nine years old and I’m growing.
“I went to school, my brothers didn’t go to school. I was on the GB team, I went to the Olympics because I was a good amateur.
“I used to travel a lot. You know, I went to Buenos Aires, Argentina, I went to Bulgaria, Serbia.
“I travelled everywhere and I think that helped open up my mind, helped change me, change my perspective.
“I saw how other people treated their children and my mind opened up. I saw what was acceptable and what I wanted to accept. My boundaries got bigger.
“And I remember coming to a conclusion for myself, ‘Who am I boxing for?’ When I suffered my first amateur defeat of all time, I went 60 fights, never lost a fight, I lost for the first time and it was the most heartbreaking moment.
“I remember crying for days. I wasn’t experienced and I wasn’t getting the support. One thing that my dad was honest about is that he stopped supporting me when I was 16 years old.
“With boxing, he just stopped looking after me and supporting me and stopped pushing me because he didn’t like the way that I was changing.
She is a WBC ‘interim’ lightweight champion and ex-OlympianCHRIS DEAN/BOXXER
“As he says, I was becoming more independent and I wanted more for myself. And I just was like, what am I doing this for? It was like a penny drop moment.
“I was like, ‘I’m doing it for myself, I’m doing this shit for myself.’ I’m not dying, making weight, sweating out, not eating for days, and as a woman I lose my period. I’m not doing this for some other guy who couldn’t care less. I’m doing it for myself, I’m doing it for my future.
“I took that decision. And it started to get very toxic and very bad in the household. He kept saying, ‘Why can’t you be more like Daniel? You need to be like him.’
“I can’t be like him and I wouldn’t want to be like him. And that’s not disrespect, but we’re different people. It was a decision that I had to make, I spoke to my brothers and sisters about it.
“I was like, ‘Okay, I’m leaving home, I’m moving out.; And they were like, ‘Okay, I want to come with you.’
“My younger brother and sister, they both moved out with me. So we left home and that’s what happened.
“My dad’s now saying that I saw the change in her. He says, he never liked female boxing. That’s absolute BS. And I just wanted to call that out.”