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DANIEL DUBOIS’ fearsome fists that floored Anthony Joshua bear the scars of a childhood being relentlessly drilled for boxing stardom.
The 27–year-old South Londoner stunned Wembley Stadium on Saturday night when he knocked out the crowd favourite in the fifth round to retain his IBF heavyweight title.
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After defeating two-time world champion Joshua, 34, Daniel looked towards his dad Dave, who had moulded him to be a king of the ring with a punishing training schedule.
From the tender age of five, Daniel, whose nickname is Dynamite, was being coached at home to be a boxer.
And by the time he was in his teens, his regime would include three to five hours of gruelling press-ups every day without food or water.
Spending so much time with his hands against the floor left them permanently marked.
Daniel’s market trader dad Dave, 63, whose real name is Stan, revealed he pushed his son hard in the quest for boxing glory.
He said: “I wouldn’t give him food or water until he’d finished. That’s why he’s so powerful.
“I just wanted to strengthen his mind because boxing is a hard sport. Not anyone can do it.”
The Sun’s boxing correspondent, Wally Downes Jr, who had a ringside view of Daniel’s knockout right hook during Saturday’s showdown, said of the fighter’s reaction to winning: “Dubois’ celebration seemed muted for a kid who’s torturous training regime has left permanent scarring on his shovel-like hands.
‘Very disciplined’
“But behind the scenes, he got to hug his giant father and we saw in full flow this unconventional family affair that has just derailed the AJ gravy train.”
Before to the Joshua fight, Don Charles, who is 6ft 5in and Daniel’s current trainer, told how the young champ invests everything in his sport.
He said: “He’s very disciplined away from boxing. You never read about Daniel Dubois going to night clubs, causing havoc, drinking, smoking, none of that.
“He eats well. His dad does all his meal preps. They’re all home cooked.
“It comes from a very strict background. His father is very, very, very strict with him. Always has been with all his children, not just Daniel, and that’s the product of that. He’s a very, very disciplined individual.”
Daniel, who still lives at home, does not booze or party, and reportedly has little time for girlfriends due to his determination to be a boxing icon.
His mobile has no internet after he was warned off phones as a kid.
But he is not the only Dubois that father-of-11 Dave has sculpted for boxing success.
Sculpted for boxing success
His daughter Caroline, 23, is considered to be one of the world’s best female boxers, while two of his other sons, Prince, 20, and Solomon, 12, are also aiming for glory in the ring.
Dave would make Caroline and Daniel run laps around their estate in Deptford, South London, every other day to keep fit.
Once, cops intervened, fearing the youngsters were being forced to do it by their father.
Both children were home-schooled by Dave, who briefly put Caroline into mainstream education after being warned that social services may pay him a visit.
I didn’t see much of the street because, from about the age of eight, dad kept me in the boxing ring. The training he put me through became so tough
Daniel Dubois
But none of Daniel’s siblings has yet matched what he did at the weekend.
Most of the record 96,000 crowd at Wembley were there to cheer on Anthony Joshua.
Few commentators gave Daniel much chance of beating his Olympic gold medal-winning rival.
Dubois had previously lost to Britain’s Joe Joyce and Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk in controversial circumstances in major bouts.
In 2020, he was cruelly branded a “coward” by fellow heavyweight Dillian Whyte for signalling he could no longer go on in his European title fight against Joyce.
It was revealed later that Daniel’s eye socket had been broken and he was struggling to see.
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Then, in August 2023, Usyk dropped to the canvas in the fifth round of their world heavyweight bout. But the referee ruled Daniel had landed an illegal “low blow.”
Usyk went on to win, with the British boxer dropping to his knee at one point, unable to take the blows any more.
Since then, Daniel has come back stronger than ever.
He became the interim International Boxing Federation (IBF) heavyweight champion in June by beating Croatian Filip Hrgovic.
Usyk’s decision to continue with a rematch against Tyson Fury rather than take on Daniel again meant that the belt was handed to Dubois.
After that, Daniel revealed that his dad had said, “You’re going to be world champion,” adding: “It’s all come to pass now, hasn’t it?”
The way Dave tells it, he had a heavenly vision that Daniel would take one of boxing’s biggest crowns.
He said: “I used to have a lot of visions when I was young, and I always followed them.
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“I got a vision saying I needed to have some children and put them into boxing, so that’s what I did.
“It was like I had been blessed by God. Everything I touched turned to gold.”
Dave, who is a single parent, sold posters on market stalls in London.
His fascination with boxing rubbed off on Daniel, who is the eldest son from his former second wife.
The boxer said: “My dad would tell me stories about the world heavyweight champions.
“One day, he put on a video of Lennox Lewis against Frank Bruno. That fight was the moment I knew that I wanted to be a world champion.”
Dave started taking his son to a boxing gym from the age of eight.
It kept him out of trouble.
Daniel said: “I didn’t see much of the street because, from about the age of eight, Dad kept me in the boxing ring. The training he put me through became so tough, incredibly hard.
“But my dad knew what the reward could be. Not once did I think of walking away. I dedicated myself totally.”
The young sportsman also had a go at sprinting and swimming, but it was clear his talents were most suited to throwing punches.
He trained in the renowned Peacock and Repton boxing clubs in East London.
But it seems that his single-minded father often fell out with the coaching staff there.
Daniel once said: “We changed gyms so often because the coaches didn’t seem to get along with my dad.”
My dad knew what the reward could be. Not once did I think of walking away
Daniel Dubois
Starting out, the future world champion won a couple of schoolboy titles and joined the Team GB set-up in Sheffield, with the intention of representing his country at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
But his dad convinced him to turn professional rather than continuing as an amateur in the Olympic set-up.
While sparring in Sheffield aged 17, it is rumoured he knocked out AJ, a story Daniel will not confirm.
In 2017, Daniel signed with promoter Frank Warren and knocked out his first opponent in a professional bout, Marcus “Caveman” Kelly, in 35 seconds.
From then on, he won fight after fight, using his quick punches to floor sparring rivals.
Until this weekend, though, he was not a household name — and that is because he is far from your typically flamboyant boxer.
He does not boast about his victories or dance around the ring.
Even when he beat Joshua, he stood calmly on the canvas as chaos erupted.
Before Charles, he was trained by Martin Bowers and Shane McGuigan. Shane, who is the son of Irish boxing legend Barry, was coaching Caroline, too.
However, a family rift means that Caroline, a gold medallist for Team GB at the 2018 Youth Olympics, is no longer in the Dubois fold.
Instead, she is being trained by Shane and has moved away form their Hertfordshire family home. What was behind the differences is unclear.
Meanwhile, Daniel does not have any regrets about sticking with his dad’s disciplinarian approach — retreating from the world to train for his bout with Joshua.
The title-holder, sometimes called Triple D for Daniel Dynamite Dubois, said: “It’s been like prison, I’ve just been grinding. Have all the pleasure later. There is plenty of time for that.”
