CAROLINE Dubois has been tipped to make her return to the ring against Puerto Rican superstar Amanda Serrano.
Serrano, 36, lost the decision for the second time to Katie Taylor, 38, on the undercard of the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul this month.
Ireland’s Taylor holds the WBC’s super-lightweight and lightweight belts but is expected to have to give up one of them. She hasn’t fought at lightweight since 2022.
Greenwich’s Dubois has held the Interim WBC lightweight world title since beating Maira Moneo at Oakwell in Barnsley last August.
Nakisa Bidarian, co-promoter of Serrano and Paul, name-checked Dubois after the Taylor fight and revealed a trilogy fight was currently off the table after the result.
“I hate the result but I love the outcome,” Bidarian said on Sky Sports. “I love the outcome because there was a trilogy pre-negotiated had she won. Now Amanda Serrano is a free agent. She is the most-followed female boxer of all time as a result and in the US the sentiment is either she won or she was [unlucky not to get the decision].
“Sure, it was a very close fight, but Amanda won big time because she’s a 100 per cent free agent and every media partner in the world wants to have Amanda Serrano on their platform.”
“There’s Mikaela [Mayer], there’s Caroline Dubois, there’s Chantelle Cameron, there’s Alycia Baumgardner, there’s many names that are there, that are real, that have shown real star power.
“Obviously a great name now with the Dubois family. If Caroline takes the right steps and the weight classes make sense I think that’s a fight that Amanda would look at.
“We’re going to make the right next step for Amanda she wants and continue to show that she’s the biggest star in female combat sports.”
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman also highlighted 23-year-old Dubois’ ambition.
“It has been quite a long time since [Taylor] defended the lightweight [title]. Caroline Dubois is the Interim champion,” Sulaiman said. “Caroline Dubois got an Interim championship so she can make money, she can be a champion and look in the near future for something.
“Hopefully there will be a resolution. We’re going to let Katie Taylor take a very well deserved rest for a week then we’re going to contact them and see exactly what the plans are.”
Another option for Dubois is Doncaster’s Terri Harper, 25, the current WBO lightweight champion after beating Rhiannon Dixon last September.
Harper’s promoter Eddie Hearn revealed Dubois’ promoter Ben Shalom had been in tough with Harper’s manager.
“There’s no tearing rush, but if they want it and they pay the money, they’ve got it,” Hearn said.
“Ben Shalom messaged Stefy Bull and said do you want us to make an offer to Matchroom and he said yes.
“It’s a great fight. It’s very tough fight for Terri. We’d be up for doing it as well. I don’t mind. But she’s just won a big fight. She’s got what Caroline wants. It’s not about pricing yourself out. It’s just about getting the same money that [Chantelle] Cameron or [Natasha] Jonas or [Sandy] Ryan, all this lot, would get. Then the fight’s on.
“She wants it. She wants all the biggest fights now. She’s a three-division world champion. From her and Stefy the instructions are, ‘find me the biggest fight for the most amount of money and if that’s Caroline, we’re in’.”
