Dubois: From 'shrinking violet' to Joshua 'king slayer'

A naive and bewildered Daniel Dubois turned to his father for support when asked to share his dreams and aspirations.

The teenager was giving his first interview to Queensberry Promotions after joining Frank Warren's stable.

Dubois' timid demeanour conflicted with his imposing 6ft 4in muscular figure.

He was the home-schooled introvert who could complete five hours of push-ups a day from the age of five - and there was little time for friendship or socialising.

So when Dubois hurtled into the limelight of pro boxing aged 19, it was very much a case of boy meets world.

Seven years later, though, Dubois has transformed from a sheepish, sometimes voiceless, character to a fighter demanding respect.

In front of 96,00 fans at Wembley Stadium on Saturday evening, Dubois dismantled two-time heavyweight world champion Joshua in only five rounds.

"I always thought he'd be a future champion, but I've really seen him change from that shrinking violet who first stepped into my office," Warren reflected, speaking in the lead-up to the bout.

BBC Sport has spoken to members of the boxing fraternity with first-hand accounts of Dubois' ascent from a shy prospect to the very peak of the heavyweight division.

The nomadic home-schooled amateur

Dubois is a graduate of the literal school of hard knocks.

His father, a market trader from Camden, drilled boxing training into him and sister Caroline, the undefeated lightweight star, in their formative years.

"I was their system. I was their school teacher. I was their leader," Stan Dubois - who also goes by the name Dave - told Seconds Out in a rare interview.

Stan was hell-bent on fast-tracking his son's progression as he hopped between several London amateur clubs, with stints at Repton, Dale Youth, Lynn, West Ham, Fisher and Islington.

Dubois Sr's ruthlessness, however, was not without its critics.

"Daniel was a genuine boy. He tried hard and listened a lot, although he used to listen to his dad a lot as well," said former Dale Youth head coach Mick Delaney.

Delaney recalled Stan taking a 16-year-old Dubois to spar with professional Derek Chisora, 14 years his senior, instead of a pre-planned sparring session.

"I said 'this is a joke, you're just a kid, those pros will be putting it on you'," Delaney added.

"We got that sorted and I also told the dad if he insists on coming to the gym then he has to sit in the back."

But just as Delaney was preparing Dubois for a senior championships, he received a call from Dubois' mother saying her son had switched gyms.

'I summoned his dad to the corner'

While reports of acrimony with trainers have continued into his professional career, Dubois split with Shane McGuigan last year.

Stan's ability to motivate his son, when some others cannot, still forms a big part of his success today.

In Don Charles, Dubois has found a head trainer willing to accommodate – and even welcome - his father's influence.

With Dubois under the cosh in the fourth round of his battle with Jarrell Miller in December, Warren summoned Stan.

"I have never done anything like that before," Warren said. "The dad basically relayed Don's instructions and, suddenly, Daniel was up and running.

"Don is an excellent trainer but also very pragmatic and understood. That's the voice Daniel listens to, so it was just common sense to channel everything through the dad."

When in June he beat Filip Hrgovic to win the interim IBF title, Dubois mouthed "we did it, Dad".

He was ringside at Wembley as he watched his son, touted as a big underdog beforehand, destroy Joshua.

From praise to condemnation

Dubois' boxing prowess has been clear from a young age.

As part of the England amateur set-up, he was sparring with the likes of Joshua, Joe Joyce and Frazer Clarke.

"I couldn't believe it," Clarke said. "His punch power for a kid who was about 17 was phenomenal."

A scintillating start to his pro career yielded 14 stoppages in 15 fights. Dubois was heralded as the future of the division.

But he soon experienced the fickleness of pro pugilism in a significant step-up.

Dubois suffered a broken eye socket during his loss to Joe Joyce in 2020, having taken a knee and missed the count.

"People called him a coward and quitter, and that just wasn't true," Warren said.

Dubois faced the same criticism when he was stopped by Oleksandr Usyk in his first world title challenge last year.

But Dubois is not overly active on social media and was to some extent shielded from the negativity, and the shift from praise to condemnation also means the burden and pressure of being Britain's next heavyweight hope had eased.

Warren asked Dubois to "grit his teeth" in tough battles and he seems to have listened.

He did not buckle under pressure from Miller and shrugged off huge right hands from Hrgovic, winning both crucial fights inside the distance.

Dubois bursts out of his shell

Dubois' team put little emphasis on developing his image early on; he made more noise with his fists.

The Greenwich-born boxer was assigned the nickname 'Dangerous' by his promoters before his debut in 2017 but Queensberry's Dev Sahni was in for a surprise when he visited Dubois' changing room.

"I glanced at his shorts and it read 'Dynamite'," Sahni said.

"All the posters and everything with his nickname had gone out but thankfully 'Triple D' still worked."

Dubois has since become better acquainted with the showmanship of boxing.

While the trash talk still does not always come naturally, with no better example than Thursday's news conference, there appears to be a deliberate attempt to showcase his personality.

He promised to "punch holes" in the brash Miller and is now the self-proclaimed "king slayer" of Joshua.

"Everyone was saying I was going to get knocked out but I did the business and I'm, glad I proved them all wrong. This is just the start of my journey," Dubois said.

"I wasn't going to be denied."

A version of this feature was published on 20 September 2024.