Daniel Dubois never thought about walking away from boxing after the gruesome injury he suffered last November as he revealed sparring with Derek Chisora helped to banish any hesitancy about the condition of his left eye.
The Londoner was diagnosed with medial and orbital floor fractures as well as retinal bleeding after allowing himself to be counted out when he took a knee in the 10th round of his heavyweight fight against Joe Joyce.
While he faced criticism from his fellow boxers for the nature of his first professional defeat, Dubois was told he could have suffered career-ending double vision had he taken any more punishment to a horrendously swollen eye.
Fortunately, the 23-year-old did not require surgery as a period of rest was sufficient to allow the damage to heal and, six months on, he is bracing himself for a return to the ring against Bogdan Dinu on June 5 in Telford
He told the PA news agency: “I certainly couldn’t leave boxing on a note like that, it wouldn’t feel right. I want to walk away when I’m ready to walk away and that I’ve done everything that I’ve needed to do.
“Everyone knows this sport is not a game, it’s very dangerous and some things can happen and go really, really wrong. I’ve not got any regrets about what happened.
“Till that happens to you, you don’t really know what you would do. I don’t really take any of the criticism on board. It’s boxing and it’s common practice in this sport, we can just go in and talk crap about anyone.
“I’m a born fighter and this is what I do, this is my profession. I’m not a weak-hearted guy, I’m coming back and I’m ready to show the world again what I’m really capable of.”
Dubois (15-1, 14KOs) insisted there were no psychological scars from what happened last time out as he admitted he has relished being put through his paces by another high-profile British heavyweight in Chisora.
The veteran is renowned for his relentlessness and come-forward style and Dubois confessed he was shown no compassion because of his recent injury when he stepped in-between the ropes to train with Chisora.
Asked about any lingering demons, Dubois said: “I don’t think so much for me. It’s healed now, I know it’s healed myself.
“I’ve sparred, I’ve done rounds with Derek Chisora, he’s throwing everything at me and I’ve been able to cope with it and come through it and now I’m ready to go again.
“He tried to hit me everywhere but it’s just everything I’m used to. In this boxing game you have to be battle-hardened. Those spars and all the other work I’ve been getting is enough for me and my confidence moving forward.
“I’ve had positive feedback after the spars with Derek and all of that is helping me make the next step again.”
Dubois last week announced he had linked up with trainer Shane McGuigan who has coached a number of past and present world champions, following a very brief stint with Mark Tibbs which ended on a peculiar note.
Dubois had turned to Tibbs after splitting from Martin Bowers following the Joyce loss, but the union lasted just one workout, although the fighter insisted there were no hard feelings.
Dubois added: “(Tibbs) came back from America, we did one session and after that he sent me a text saying he had other commitments and couldn’t train me. I don’t want to force anyone to do something they don’t want to do.
“After that it was just who was next and Shane McGuigan was the man. He’s young, he’s hungry and it seems he wants to be one of the best trainers to go down in history, and I want to be one of the top fighters. We could make a great pair.”
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