Caroline Dubois v Terri Harper: Doncaster's 'Belter' has something in common with her rival despite bad blood
To say Terri Harper and Caroline Dubois have agreed on little of late would be an understatement.
The former is generally mild-mannered and has only ever been laidback and affable in her interviews with The Yorkshire Post over the years.
However, it has been made abundantly clear there is no love lost between Harper and Dubois. The build-up has been laden with verbal barbs and jabs in true grudge match style.
At a photoshoot earlier this week, Harper shoved Dubois in response to the Londoner stepping across her. The pair will lock horns at London’s Olympia tomorrow (April 5) in a lightweight bout intended to unify Harper’s WBO title and Dubois’ WBC crown.
Shared dream
While the rivals may not see eye to eye on much, a dream of unification is something they share.
"It's my dream also,” Harper told Sky Sports. "There's great opportunities still coming in and great fights still to be made. You're not seeing the back of me yet.
“It's definitely to unify. I think every fighter's dream is to become undisputed. For me it's just big fight after big fight, that's all I want."
25-year-old Dubois, the sister of male heavyweight Daniel, is yet to be toppled after 13 professional fights. Harper, the more seasoned fighter at 29, is 16-2-2.
Both are fleet-footed students of the sweet science but there certainly appears to be a danger of style going out of the window.
Bitter rivalry
It will perhaps be the fighter that can put a lid on animosity and temper rage that emerges victorious.
"I really think she's got a bad ego," Harper said. "She truly believes it, she really needs to live up to everything she's saying on fight night. I think that adds more pressure for herself.
"She's going to look daft. If she doesn't live up to everything she's said she's going to look daft. She's added a lot more pressure."
Dubois has rather confidently predicted she will put an end to the main event within four rounds.Harper, meanwhile, has accused her rival of lacking an engine.
"Every fight she has she fades,” said Denaby Main-born Harper. “It's the ego.
"She tries to admire her own work. She's got a lazy workrate, her engine being one of [her weaknesses]. She really fades the second half of the fight
"I said to her if she doesn't get me out in the first half of the fight then she's lost."
Terri Harper entering ‘prime’
Harper has been to extremes across her last four fights. There was the frustration of a draw with Cecilia Brækhus in October 2023 before the heartbreak of a loss to Sandy Ryan five months later.
She has since dispatched of Rhiannon Dixon and Natalie Zimmerman, with the latter having been brushed aside at Doncaster Rovers’ Eco-Power Stadium.
The fight with Dubois, however, promises to be a much sterner test.
Harper has previously had the speed of her ascent slowed and must now pump the brakes on Dubois’ meteoric rise to prominence.
"This is the fight I've always wanted,” she said. “A big fight, I'm on a big platform, I've got a great promoter behind me, so it's something I've always wanted.
"It's here now for me to grab and run with. I could see her building up, going up the rankings, I knew it would only be a matter of time before our paths crossed and here we are.
"Caroline seems to think it's the end of my career, but I'm coming into the prime part of my career and I believe this is perfect timing for this fight to happen."