LONDON – Caroline Dubois had to resist a late onslaught from South Korea’s Bo Mi Re Shin at the conclusion of an otherwise one-sided contest to survive and defend her WBC lightweight title.
For the majority of the first nine rounds at London’s Royal Albert Hall, Dubois consistently appeared a level above her challenger by regularly demonstrating the extent of her variety and abilities and making Shin appear one-dimensional and out of her depth.
In the 10th, however, having already showed signs of fatigue, Dubois was repeatedly caught and hurt, and instead of boxing with caution chose to trade until the final bell, whereafter a majority decision via scores of 98-93, 98-92, and, puzzlingly, 95-95 was awarded in her favour.
The 24-year-old Dubois had perhaps felt frustrated in January when the first defense of her title ended in a draw because of a cut suffered by her opponent Jessica Camara of Canada, and in the days before Friday’s fight with Shin she spoke with a sense of intent and spite.
She was noticeably smaller than her challenger, but proceeded to seek to hurt her from the opening bell, as she first did with a left to the body while Shin was off-balance. Shin was wild in her attempts to be the aggressor, and when she was again off-balance Dubois punished her again, this time via a right to the head.
A jab to the body and a right to the head followed in the second round when Shin, as Dubois had predicted she would, lunged in. A flurry then followed from the champion, followed by a right and then a left to the body, punches Ricky Hatton – present in London in his role as Chloe Watson’s trainer – would have admired.
Shin was already looking too slow and predictable for a champion expected to one day establish herself as the finest female fighter in the world, as her being forced to absorb further right hands to the head and body, while struggling to catch the feinting Dubois, showed.
Dubois continued to hurt her and counter her to both body and head throughout the fourth, and also to progress to fighting on the inside. She then again showed her mobility to evade Shin’s aggression before a left-right that made the challenger, 30, stumble, but still not discourage her from coming forwards.
The champion appeared relaxed and composed despite taking a straight right in the fifth, and was rewarded when she landed first a left to the body and then a right while retreating on the stroke of the bell.
A counter right by the ropes followed in the sixth and was complemented by her dancing around Shin and out of range and towards the centre of the ring. In the seventh she landed another counter right, followed by a counter left, and then a straight right hand, before her head movement again meant she resisted danger.
Shin, regardless, continued to attempt to move forwards in straight lines, sometimes with her hands up; sometimes with them not. She landed a right from close range before the end of the eighth round, and then took a sense of momentum into the ninth and 10th.
Whether Dubois was tired in the ninth or cruising in the expectation that she had essentially already secured victory was unclear, but if it was the latter it proved a risk. She first complained about Shin using her head, and after again targeting the challenger’s body took a strong right hand, even though it was noticeable that it was Shin’s face that was red.
Shin, perhaps inevitably, wildly pursued the knockout throughout the 10th, and perhaps even briefly threatened it. For the first time she hurt Dubois with one of her reckless attacks and the champion, instead of covering up, chose to stand her ground and trade. Shin slowed, and Dubois threatened to again become dominant and she jabbed her opponent on the break, but she was trading with a bigger woman and when she took a right uppercut towards the final bell she was again hurt.
A wide victory in her favour, regardless, ought to have been inevitable. On no reliable judge’s scorecards should Shin have come anywhere close to earning a draw.
“It was rough and tough, head down and she swung for the rafters,” said Dubois, post-fight.
Karriss Artingstall had by then become the first ever British featherweight champion when, after having recorded a second-round knockdown with a strong left hand, she earned scores of 97-92, 98-91 and 96-93 over Raven Chapman.
Jasmina Zapotoczna, the Poland-born Briton, dethroned her compatriot Chloe Watson as the European flyweight champion when she earned a split decision in the form of two scores of 96-95 in her favour and another of 97-93 to Watson.
The junior featherweight Francesca Hennessy won the first fight of the evening, via one score of 80-72, against her fellow Englishwoman Gemma Ruegg. At 40 years old Ruegg is twice Hennessy’s age.
