Daniel Dubois and Don Charles have opened up on their decision to team up again, after their surprising split last year.
One month after Dubois’s second stoppage loss to Oleksandr Usyk, at Wembley Stadium in July, the British heavyweight made the surprise move to part ways with Charles, who had overseen the best spell of “Dynamite”’s career.
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Dubois, 28, subsequently spent a short period of time training with Tony Sims at the Matchroom gym, before reuniting with Charles for his upcoming fight: a shot at WBO champion Fabio Wardley.
Ahead of that bout in Manchester on 9 May, Dubois and Charles appeared on Sky Sports to discuss their renewed partnership, with Dubois clarifying: “No problems with Tony, but this is the best move for my career. Yeah, I’m glad I’m working with Don for this fight.”
Charles added: “If it’s not broken, don’t mend it. From my end, nothing happened.
“We had a break, and he didn’t have no fight in between that break, and he came back home. I’m delighted, I’m happy, and let’s get it on.”
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When asked whether the reunion was a vindication of Charles’s training methods, the coach said: “It could be anything. You know, sometimes the chemistry… Everything was just right.
Daniel Dubois (left) is back with his coach Don Charles after a split (Getty Images)
“I feel the same way, he feels the same way, and we’re back to doing what we do best. I’m really, really happy for this young man, to aid him to go and achieve greatness.”
Dubois first began working with Charles in 2023, after splitting from coach Shane McGuigan, and the pair’s first fight together was a title shot against Usyk. The Ukrainian stopped Dubois in the ninth round after climbing off the canvas himself, following a controversial low blow from Dubois.
Dubois and Charles then went 3-0 between December 2023 and September 2024, with knockout wins over Jarrell Miller, Filip Hrgovic and Anthony Joshua. Dubois dropped Joshua several times and secured a fifth-round KO to pick up the IBF heavyweight title, which had been vacated by Usyk earlier in the year.
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The victory over Joshua set up a rematch with Usyk, who still held the other major titles at heavyweight, but Usyk bettered his first performance against Dubois by sealing a fifth-round finish. That result crowned Usyk a two-time undisputed heavyweight champion.
Fabio Wardley (left) sees his fist bump snubbed by Daniel Dubois (Getty Images)
Usyk vacated the WBO strap in November, one month after Wardley had stopped Joseph Parker to claim the interim version. Wardley was thus elevated, and the unbeaten 31-year-old will defend the official title against Dubois at the Co-op Live arena.
After Dubois’s split from Charles, the latter told Seconds Out in November: “He’s been influenced heavily. People think I’m a mad person, I’m far from it.” He went on to reference “the devil’s agents”, saying: “They always manage to infiltrate.
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“They don’t like anything good; they like to infiltrate anything good and spoil it. He’s been heavily influenced […] I feel very let down. I feel very sad.”
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