Although she admits that much of the lure of joining Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) setup had to do with the platform it offers, Caroline Dubois also had competitive reasons for making the switch.
After all, with so many of the game’s top females going the same way of late, Dubois, the WBC lightweight champion, didn’t want to be left behind. Nor did she want to see a potential domestic blockbuster against Terri Harper, the WBO lightweight champion, go to waste on account of any promotional conflict.
Now, having both signed with MVP, Dubois and Harper are not only lightweight rivals and fellow British world champions. They are also promotional stablemates.
“It was one of the main reasons I signed with MVP and Jake Paul,” Dubois, 24, told Sky Sports today. “They have the best opponents for me. They have the biggest names: Terri Harper, Alycia Baumgardner, Stephanie Han, and Holly Holm. They have those girls. Terri Harper is obviously a British fighter and I am a British fighter. It makes the most sense. Hopefully it’s the one that we get in the first quarter of next year.”
This year Dubois has fought just twice: a three-round technical draw against Jessica Camara in January and then a 10-round majority decision win in what turned out to be the toughest fight of her career against Bo Mi Re Shin in March. Harper, meanwhile, won her WBO lightweight last September when outboxing Rhiannon Dixon over 10 rounds. She has sine then only defended it once, beating Natalie Zimmermann at home in Doncaster.
They are, in other words, both very much in need of momentum as we head into 2026.
“I’m excited,” Dubois said of her move to MVP. “It’s the biggest platform, the biggest stage, and the biggest moment a fighter can ask for. It’s a blessing and a privilege and I honestly can’t wait to just go out there and let the American public know what Caroline Dubois is all about.
“Every time I step into the ring people see what I bring. They don’t need to question it. I’m not fluky and I’m not somebody who is trying to be someone else. I step into the ring and I’m a straight killer. I think women’s boxing needs that character, that personality, and that ability.
“The lightweight division for women is booming right now. It’s on absolute fire. I think it’s the most exciting division in women’s boxing at the moment and I’m just another player in the game looking to take over. With MVP now backing me, and the support of Nakisa [Bidarian] and Jake Paul, this is the takeover. I’m on a quest for greatness and I feel that quest starts next Friday.”
On Friday, December 19, Dubois will fight the unheralded Italian southpaw Camilla Panatta, presumably just to show her face and get some rounds under her belt. Panatta, on paper at least, appears to be a level or two below the level at which Dubois usually operates and will bring to next week’s bout a humble 8-2-1 (1 KOs) record.
“I believe the best version of Caroline Dubois beats anyone,” said Dubois, 11-0-1 (5 KOs). “I destroy any opposition in the lightweight division. Camilla is just the first one – the first one in my way. This is the best platform to do it on, the biggest stage to do it on, and I honestly can’t wait.”
