Dubois: I want to be in fights that scare me

When Caroline Dubois started boxing she did not know where the sport would take her, she just knew it was what she was meant to do.

Dubois had her first amateur contest on a club show in the back room of the Boston Arms pub in north London, the same venue where a few years earlier a certain Anthony Joshua had also made his amateur debut.

A small 11-year-old in a big headguard, she came out boxing like a little Sugar Ray Leonard. "Everyone was raving about that. I remember that fight, it was crazy," Dubois told Sky Sports.

"I know it's a venue that everybody fights at and it was a sick one because it was my first amateur fight and I remember not being nervous at all and I remember smiling, being so relaxed walking into the ring, walking out smiling.

"Everyone was just taken away with how calm and relaxed I was. I don't think nobody expected me to perform the way I did. I had everybody coming up to me afterwards and saying, 'Wow.' That's what really stuck with me and made me want to continue performing. Because people were just mesmerised by how good I was.

"I loved it."

At that time the professional women's scene was dormant. Female amateur boxing was not that well established in the UK. At times Caroline had to pretend to be a boy called Colin to get sparring as a child.

"The first spar I ever I had, I sparred this kid named Oscar and I made him cry," she said with a smile.

She explained, "I told my dad I wanted to box and he's not one to mess around. If you want to box you have to go the hard way. Repton was the hardest boxing club around in London, especially at the time and they have some tough spars and they don't take it easy there.

"We walked into the gym and it was a boys-only club so we knew beforehand what we