By Ronan McIlhennon: The names Dubois and Gorman are legendary among fighting folklore. Sylvia Dubois was born into slavery and used her incredible strength to fight her way to freedom, Bartley Gorman ‘The Most Dangerous Man On The Planet’ was the great bare-knuckle champion who retired undefeated and gained the official title of ‘King Of The Gypsies’,. On Saturday night the names Dubois and Gorman will enter into another battle as the fighting ancestors of Sylvia and Bartley face each other in London at the O2 arena.
Daniel Dubois (11,0,0 10kos) will challenge fellow British prospect Nathan Gorman (16,0,0 11kos) for the vacant British heavyweight title. Billed as ‘Heavy Duty’, the card will feature fellow heavyweight prospect Joe Joyce as he takes on former heavyweight world title challenger Bryant Jennings.
Like his heavy handed ancestor Daniel Dynamite Dubois ‘Triple D’ is all about sheer strength. With a 91% knock out ratio the 6’ 5” Greenwich East-London native has lived up to his family name so far in his short career. Trained by the highly regarded Martin Bowers at Canning Town’s famous Peacock Gym he started boxing at the age of nine after his father Dave brought him to the gym and went on to achieve an excellent amateur record of 69-6 collecting two junior ABA titles, two junior International titles and a gold in the 2016 GB Championships. In 2016 he was also used as an sparring partner by a certain heavyweight by the name of Anthony Joshua. A big left hook from the Dynamite Kid is rumored to have put the former unified heavyweight champion on the seat of his pants, and talk starting growing of a potential Gold for GB at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, before signing with Frank Warren in 2017.
In the paid ranks Dubois has excelled in his first 11 fights although he is yet to face an opponent who has really tested him. The veteran heavyweight Kevin Johnson is the only man so far to hear the final bell against Dubois using his experience to survive the ten round distance. Johnson who has been in with some of the best in his long career said of Dubois “His jab is better than Klitschko’s, I just couldn’t get past that jab, it’s like being hit with another heavyweights right hand.” Triple D although his record might suggest otherwise is not a conclusive puncher according to Johnson describing the young brit as being heavy handed who wears you down with a series of heavy shots. Still very raw DDD, can be a little eager to get involved in a shoot -out instead of sticking to his boxing, although he does produce some lovely work when working behind his ramrod jab. He attacks the body with deadly combinations which often end with a vicious uppercut . Still only 21 years of age Dubois is a baby in the heavyweight division and has his eyes set on Herbie Hides record of 22 years and six months as the youngest Britain to win a world title and if he beats Gorman on Saturday his name will be in the world title mix.
With his head trainer Ricky ‘Hitman’ Hatton by his side Nathan Gorman says he’s in the shape of his life “we’re training for a knockout. A wins a win but with what I’m going through in this gym, I want to walk out of there on July 13
th having put a spectacular show on. I’ve had world class sparring partners, and with all the other stuff in the gym I’m smashing all my records. Come July 13th I’ll be flying, I’m coming to take that belt at all costs.” The Cheshire man is right to be confident, he and Dubois have shared a ring before , this time as amateurs in the GB setup and Gorman claims he always got the upper hand in their sessions. Gorman is the latest of heavyweights to come from the Travelling Community and like his distant cousin Tyson Fury he is also undefeated. Unlike his opponent Gorman is not the body beautiful type, at age 11 he weighed 12 stone and was a fully fledged 95 kilo (15 stone) super heavyweight at age 15. His amateur career spammed eight years losing only once in 12 fights, collecting the youth ABA’s and three nation titles along the way, now 6’ 4.5” with a 73” reach Gorman has continued that good form into the professionals.
Like his midland ancestor , Nathan has quick hands and feet and has great variety in his punches. He attacks both head and body and has a quality jab of his own. His last three contests have went the distance and once again the old gatekeeper Kevin Johnson was one of them, using his tricks to lose on a unanimous decision. At only 23 years of age Gorman sees a victory on Saturday night propelling himself into world heavyweight contention. During camp his wife give birth to a baby girl and Gorman says that that has given him the extra motivation needed to defeat his rival.
Both men have legends backing their talents, former heavyweight WBC champion Frank Bruno said of Dubois “ he’s very much got the ingredients and I think if you slow him down a little bit, once he’s matured, he’s going to be unstoppable.” Former two weight world champion Ricky Hatton said of Gorman “Nathan has great upper body movement, great boxing ability, great hand speed. He will have no problem landing against Daniel.” Gorman also has the backing of new WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr, who has likened the match up to his recent win of Anthony Joshua. This is not the first time young British prospects have been pitted against each other, in 2011 James Degale and George Groves faced each other in only their 11th and 13th fight respectively and like Degale and Groves that’s hope both these young hopefuls go on to world honors.