Caroline Dubois Defeats Amelia Moore to Retain Titles
Caroline Dubois barely broke stride. Amelia Moore never stopped trying.
Only one of them ever looked like losing.
At a loud, restless BP Pulse Arena in Birmingham, Dubois retained her WBC and WBO lightweight titles with a dominant unanimous decision, staying firmly on track for a long-brewing showdown with unified super-featherweight champion Alycia Baumgardner. The cards told the story: 99-90, 99-90, 98-91. So did the body language.
From the opening bell, Dubois fought like a woman who knew exactly where this was supposed to end: her hand raised, her belts intact, and Baumgardner waiting just a few feet away.
Dubois in control, Moore in survival mode
Dubois walked Moore down from the start, using her size, strength and sheer presence to occupy the centre of the ring. She didn’t rush. She stalked.
Moore, in only her fifth professional fight, tried to match the champion’s intent, but every exchange carried a different weight. Dubois’ punches sounded heavier, her feet looked firmer, her eyes calmer. Moore’s two American national titles and respectable amateur pedigree gave her the heart to stand her ground, not the tools to change the pattern.
The breakthrough came in the fifth. Dubois uncorked a booming left that sent Moore crashing to the canvas, the kind of shot that usually closes the show. Moore sprang up almost on instinct, defiant and clear-eyed, but the gap in class had been laid bare.
From there, Dubois treated the ring like her personal playground. She moved Moore around with authority, feinting, prodding, leaning on her, circling like a cat toying with a mouse it knows it can finish whenever it chooses. The finish never came, though, and that will linger.
Dubois’ reliance on power and physical dominance rather than blistering hand speed meant Moore survived to the final bell. The champion never looked in danger, never looked rattled, but the fight drifted towards a long, inevitable conclusion instead of a statement stoppage.
Still, the numbers matter. Dubois is now unbeaten in 15 professional contests, with 14 victories and those two lightweight world titles still strapped around her waist. She has boxed 70 more professional rounds than Moore and it showed: she read the distance better, slipped danger despite being four inches shorter, and controlled the tempo on her own terms.
Baumgardner scouting – and sniping – at ringside
If the main event lacked late drama inside the ropes, it had plenty outside them.
Baumgardner sat at ringside on what she called a “scouting mission”, and she didn’t like everything she saw. As the final bell rang and the result became a formality, the real heat shifted from the ring to the apron.
The pair have been trading barbs for a year, and the feud escalated again under the Birmingham lights. Baumgardner accused Dubois of “tightening up” and looking “tired”, jabbing verbally at a champion who had just cruised to victory but not quite delivered the explosive finish many expected.
Dubois, now fronting a brasher, MVP-curated persona, fired back with venom. She called out Baumgardner for stepping into “my division – I am the best here,” in an expletive-laced exchange that underlined just how personal this is becoming.
Away from the cameras, Dubois has been just as bold. She made the surprise decision to split from Shane McGuigan in London, the trainer who helped guide her to two world titles at lightweight. She has uprooted her camp to Los Angeles to work with renowned US coach Manny Robles, a move clearly designed to sharpen her edge for the biggest nights of her career.
Those nights may not be far away. Baumgardner, 32, has made it clear she “absolutely” wants Dubois. First, she must move up to lightweight and take care of business against IBF champion Elif Nur Turhan in Texas on 8 November. If she succeeds, the path is clear for Dubois-Baumgardner to headline another major MVP showcase of women’s boxing in 2027.
Saturday in Birmingham felt like a dress rehearsal for that collision. One champion defending her belts. Another champion taking notes and throwing shade. The tension is already built in.
Harper roars back with ruthless finish
Earlier on the card, Terri Harper reminded everyone she is not done yet.
The former world champion, who lost on points to Dubois in April, began her rebuild with a ruthless stoppage of Miranda Reyes, a performance she herself called “one of the best” of her career.
Harper had stared into the abyss before. After her defeat to Sandy Ryan in 2024 she genuinely considered retirement. Losing to Dubois did not provoke the same crisis, but it left her at a crossroads. Step up, or slide away from the elite.
She chose to step up – literally. Moving to welterweight for a must-win bout, Harper bounced into the ring wearing bright yellow gloves, her corner clad in matching colours. The look was lively; the intent behind it was even sharper.
From the opening seconds she seized the centre of the ring, snapping Reyes’ body with clean shots and dictating range. The first round belonged entirely to Harper, but she didn’t wait long to turn control into closure.
At the start of the second, she shifted through the gears and blew the fight open. A flurry of heavy body work bent Reyes out of shape, and a short, crisp left hook dropped the Houston fighter. Reyes rose, but Harper smelled the finish. The follow-up assault left the referee with no choice, waving it off just 47 seconds into the round to the delight of that yellow-clad corner.
It was the seventh knockout win of Harper’s career, taking her to 17 victories in 22 bouts. More importantly, it was a timely reminder of the spite and precision that once made her a champion.
“You can’t get rid of me this easily,” she said afterwards, grinning through the adrenaline. “It’s way too early [to say goodbye] – I’ve got a lot to give yet.”
On a night built around one champion’s steady march towards a super-fight, Harper’s resurgence hinted at fresh storylines of her own. Dubois has her eyes locked on Baumgardner and the global stage. Harper, newly energised at welterweight, is climbing again.
In Birmingham, the message from both was unmistakable: the next era of women’s boxing isn’t waiting politely to arrive. It’s already knocking on the door.
