Caroline Dubois has learned plenty of lessons from her older brother, rising heavyweight star Daniel Dubois.
Earlier this month Kevin Lerena unexpectedly dropped Daniel on the Tyson Fury undercard at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium.
With an injured leg, the British heavyweight was under severe pressure in the first round against an opponent no-one thought would give him much trouble.
For Caroline it was a stark reminder that in boxing you can’t take anything for granted.
Caroline Dubois targets a future fight with Mikaela Mayer following her victory over Milena Koleva at the O2
“It’s the sport of anything can happen,” Dubois told Sky Sports.
“People can say, ‘oh, you’re getting in against a nobody, who is this person?’ And you can get beat. That’s just the way it is. You have to be switched on 100 per cent.”
Daniel eventually turned his fight around, stopping Lerena in the third round. But it was nevertheless an upsetting experience for his sister, who could only watch on as her brother hit the canvas three times.
Caroline Dubois sends a message to the rest of the women’s lightweight division, saying she’s ‘as good as any girl out there’
“I love boxing. But the only time I hate boxing is when my brother fights,” she said.
“It’s hard to explain, when you watch somebody get in the ring and there’s nothing you can do. You can shout, you can tell them whatever, there is nothing you can do, it’s them versus somebody else.
“You just have to sit, hold tight on the outside. It’s a horrible feeling, it’s very nerve-wracking and it’s very scary. But I’m so proud of my brother. Whether he wins, whatever, he’s my big brother and he’s been one of the major inspirations why I started boxing myself.”
For her fight in Bournemouth Saturday, Dubois is looking to close out her first year as a professional in style. She has heaped pressure on herself by saying she wants to be the first person to stop Argentina’s Sofia Alejandra Rodriguez
READ ALSO Ex-boxing referee admits cheating in Pacquiao victory
“The lights are on you, the attention’s on you, everybody’s watching you, the eyes are on you, which is a good thing but it’s also a bad thing,” she said.
“The moment you slip up, you mess up, you have a flat performance, people have got a lot to say and just that pressure on myself that every time I step in the ring, I have to show up and I have to show out.
“So I want to keep doing that and that pressure’s obviously going to make me train harder, make me make sure I always perform.”