Caroline Dubois isn't waiting for anyone. Not for Baumgardner, not for a big promotional deal, not for the stars to align. She's taking the direct route to undisputed and she wants everyone to know it.
The unified WBC and WBO lightweight champion has made her intentions clear: she's coming for Stephanie Han's WBA belt first, then she wants Alycia Baumgardner. One fight, maybe two, and she's the undisputed lightweight champion of the world. That's the plan, and the confidence behind it doesn't feel like posturing.
The Queue She's Not Standing In
Dubois, currently holding the WBC and WBO 135lb titles, has her eye firmly fixed on Han as the next step. The WBA belt is the only one she can realistically go after right now, with Baumgardner occupied fighting Elif Nur Turhan for the IBF title on 9th November, live on Sky Sports.
"I want to become undisputed and I want to be involved in relevant fights," Dubois told Sky Sports. "The only other champion [available] is Han and we'll just have to see if I can get it in before the end of the year. If not we'll have to go early next year."
She's not being coy about what comes after that either. Win the Han fight, become a three-belt unified champion, then sit across from whoever emerges from Turhan versus Baumgardner. Simple. Direct. No detours.
There's something refreshing about a fighter who actually maps things out like this rather than hiding behind vague talk of "big fights" and "conversations happening." Dubois knows where she wants to go and she's telling us exactly how she plans to get there.
The Baumgardner Problem, or Lack of One
After defending her titles against Amelia Moore in Birmingham last month, Dubois and Baumgardner went at it verbally, and she didn't hold back an inch.
"She's most definitely intimidated by me. She's frightened of what I bring to the table," Dubois said. "Everything that she has had to work so hard to get I've had it and I've achieved it in such quick succession. She's threatened, she's jealous."
That's a bold read on a fighter she hasn't met in the ring yet. But Dubois sells it with total conviction. This isn't the kind of trash talk you hear from someone trying to manufacture a rivalry for promotional purposes. She sounds like she genuinely believes every word, which is either complete self-assurance or a very good impression of it.
What makes it more interesting is that she actually wants Baumgardner to win the Turhan fight. "I'm going to be real upset if she doesn't win because I need to show her something," she said. That's the confidence of someone who isn't looking for soft options.
"The path has revealed itself to me," Dubois added. "So close, but so far."
Our Take
Dubois is doing everything right here. She's not sitting still waiting for the undisputed fight to fall into her lap, she's going to get another belt first and force the issue. Baumgardner versus Turhan on 9th November is the fight to watch in the meantime, because whoever wins that is walking into a Dubois who will have no patience for delays. This division is heading somewhere worth watching.