Everyone knows that, in boxing, prospects are built up slowly.
That process typically sees promising young fighters handed less accomplished opposition for several years so that they can pad their record, establish a reputation and gradually make a name for themselves before they fight more dangerous opponents.
And whether you’re in favour of that practice or not, you’ll probably agree that this was a bit too much of a mismatch.
Big things are expected of undefeated British heavyweight prospect Daniel Dubois, who claimed the vacant BBBofC Southern Area heavyweight title on Saturday evening in brutal fashion.
Dubois, 20, was paired up with unheralded AJ Carter on the undercard of Billy Joe Saunders’ WBO middleweight title defence against Willie Monroe Jr. and boxing fans were genuinely concerned about Carter’s well-being ahead of the opening bell.
And that worry was justified just moments into the fight as Carter was dropped by the heavy-handed Dubois inside 10 seconds. It was all downhill from there.
https://twitter.com/boxingvideos_/status/909143888388067328
The second flurry of the contest saw Carter downed again and the final shot was imminent.
A clubbing right hook immediately knocked Carter unconscious and Dubois, who is said to have once dropped Anthony Joshua in sparring, moved to 5-0 as a professional.
But viewers were adamant that the fight should never have been made and that the hope of building a prospect should not come at the expense of a fellow fighter’s health.
https://twitter.com/JJTEW1/status/909142080437604352
From what I've seen of AJ Carter, putting him in against Daniel Dubois is borderline dangerous. We shall see.
— Tom Craze (@TomCraze) September 16, 2017
Fucking warned about the danger of Carter vs Dubois. The Board have got real questions to answer in sanctioning that fight. Terrible.
— Martin (@NewAgeBoxingUK) September 16, 2017
Brutal knockout by Dubois, hope Carter is OK. DDD needs more durable opposition.
— Beadybea (@Beadybea) September 16, 2017
Daniel dubois learns absolutely nothing from that fight, terrible match making that was a disaster waiting to happen
— Scott Milner (@scottmilner88) September 16, 2017
As expected, Dubois has killed Carter
— Shane Dyer (@shane_dyer123) September 16, 2017
