Caroline Dubois: "I'm thinking: 'OK, I'm getting in there with Mikaela Mayer, I'm still an amateur, 19 years old'. I got out of the ring thinking: 'Wow, that was nothing. I could have been sparring anyone'. I was not impressed or surprised. There was nothing there that stood out to me"
Tuesday 20 June 2023 16:37, UK
Caroline Dubois was "not impressed or surprised" by Mikaela Mayer after they traded punches in sparring and warned the American that she has entered "my division".
Britain's explosive lightweight talent dropped Yanina del Carmen Lescano in a dominant points win on Friday night and reiterated her desire to face Mayer, a former unified super-bantamweight world champion.
Dubois has already shared the ring with Mayer before she turned professional and gave a scathing account of their past sparring session.
"Sparring is sparring," Dubois said. "She could be at the beginning of her camp, I could be at the end of mine. I got in the ring and I was expecting a lot - she was someone who had turned pro, she had already been on the big stage, already been fighting.
"I'm thinking 'OK, I'm getting in there with Mikaela Mayer, I'm still an amateur, I'm 19 years old'.
"I got out of the ring thinking, 'wow, that was nothing. I could have been sparring anyone'. I was not impressed or surprised. There was nothing there that stood out to me or said that I'm in there with a world champion, so that's my mentality."
Mayer has stepped up a division to challenge for more world titles after losing her belts in a hotly disputed split decision loss to Alycia Baumgardner.
The 32-year-old marked her arrival in the 139lb division with a punishing points win over Lucy Wildheart in April, but Dubois is far from daunted by a future meeting with Mayer.
"That's what I'm aiming for," Dubois added. "She's saying all the right things - she says she wants to be 135lb world champion.
"This is my division. That's the way I see it. She stepped up from 113lb - she lost all her belts, let's not get it twisted.
"She wants to be world champion and that's great, that's what we need. But to get there, she can't just be expecting to get a hand down - a Katie Taylor that's fallen down and not the one that she used to be.
"She has to fight and earn it the right way by stepping in there with the killer and earning it the right way."
