LONDON – Caroline Dubois has revealed the sense of “pressure and responsibility” she feels to impress on Friday when she defends her WBC lightweight title against Bo Mi Re Shin on an all-female bill at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

Dubois’ date with her South Korean challenger represents the chief support to the IBF, WBA and WBC welterweight title fight between Natasha Jonas and Lauren Price, and follows three other match-ups between female fighters.

Had the Paris 2024 Olympian Cindy Ngamba’s medicals not prevented her from fighting, she, too,  would have fought at the celebrated venue, against Kirstie Bavington. Friday’s promotion is the first high in profile featuring only female fighters since that led by Claressa Shields-Savannah Marshall in October 2022 – Dubois and Price featured on the 10-fight undercard that evening at London’s O2 Arena – and a belief in a wider willingness to question the quality of women’s boxing means that Dubois is wary of the criticism that could potentially follow.

“Whenever there’s an all-female show there’s extra pressure, from every single person that’s on the show,” the 24 year old told BoxingScene. “There’s gonna be a lot of doubts and a lot of people who just want to be critics and criticise an all-female show. 

“Whenever we go out there and perform we have to put on an extra, extra good performance – all of us have a responsibility to represent not just the sport of boxing, but the sport of female boxing, [and] that comes with really standout performances. Stellar performances; get the sport out there and advocate ourselves. 

“With the last all-female show at the O2 Arena, we did a great job. I don’t know if it’s added pressure, but I want to do a similar job. I want to do something similar to that – really put a stamp down. ‘This is where we’re at, and this is what we do.’ There is the added pressure and responsibility that I believe we’re all going to take on to our shoulders when we fight on Friday.”

Shin, 30, is considered a significant underdog against a champion expected to one day establish herself as the world’s finest female fighter. As also applies to female boxing, Dubois is central to her promoter Boxxer and broadcaster Sky Sports’ plans.

“It’s a responsibility,” Dubois continued. “If the fights are a bit flat and a bit boring, the critics and the criticism is going to be heavy – on Sky [Sports], on Ben [Shalom of Boxxer], on us. It’s going to be like, ‘Wow, what a dead show’, and, ‘boxing is dead’. 

“Just because it’s still so new there’s always going to be that added expectation to always perform, and every single person that’s on that show, we have a responsibility to uphold that and prove the doubters wrong, and prove any criticisms wrong – like we did last time at the O2 Arena.”