Caroline Dubois Unifies WBC and WBO Lightweight Titles, Floors Harper

A 24-year-old with Olympic silver already on her résumé put on a masterclass at the Olympia in Kensington, dropping Terri Harper and winning on all three judges' cards to unify the WBC and WBO women's lightweight world titles by unanimous decision on Easter Sunday.

Caroline Dubois improved to 13-0-1 with the victory, scorecards of 98-91, 98-91, and 97-92 reflecting her comprehensive control of a fight loaded with personal animosity long before the opening bell. Harper, entering with a 16-2-2 record and the WBO lightweight belt she had won just six months earlier, left Olympia beaten and bloodied.

The outcome validated Dubois's extraordinary trajectory since turning professional in 2022 off an amateur record of 37 wins and three losses. Her pre-professional credentials were exceptional: Youth Olympic champion in 2018, World Youth champion, four-time European Youth champion, and Olympic silver medallist at the 2020 Tokyo Games, where she lost only to Ireland's Kellie Harrington in the final on a split decision. She was named BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year in 2019.

Dubois entered holding the WBC lightweight belt, claimed in December 2024 after undisputed star Katie Taylor relinquished the title. By adding Harper's WBO strap, the younger sister of former WBA heavyweight world champion Daniel Dubois became a unified champion at just 24.

Harper's own résumé was formidable. The 28-year-old from Denaby Main, Yorkshire, was already a three-weight world champion and the first British woman to hold world titles at three different weight classes, having previously held the WBC super featherweight title and the WBA and IBO light middleweight belts before capturing the WBO lightweight crown with a unanimous decision over Rhiannon Dixon in Sheffield on September 28, 2024. She was only the second British woman after Nicola Adams to win a major world championship.

The build-up was acrimonious even by the standards of British boxing rivalries. Dubois publicly described Harper as "pathetic," while Harper fired back by labelling Dubois a "bully," and the two came close to physical confrontations multiple times during fight week. Both made weight comfortably inside the 135-pound limit at Friday's weigh-in.

The bout headlined the UK promotional debut of Most Valuable Promotions, the boxing company co-founded by YouTube personality and boxer Jake Paul, which launched a new broadcast partnership with Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and ESPN+ in the United States specifically to elevate women's boxing.

The all-women's card at Olympia delivered across the board. Chantelle Cameron won the vacant WBO super welterweight title against Michaela Kotaskova by unanimous decision, with scorecards of 99-91 twice and 100-90, becoming a two-weight world champion across 140 and 154 pounds. In the co-main event, Ellie Scotney put her WBC, IBF, and WBO super bantamweight belts on the line against WBA champion Mayelli Flores in a bid for undisputed honours.

With two world titles now in her possession, Dubois has made an emphatic case that women's lightweight boxing has a clear new face at the top.