London teenager Caroline Dubois will make her senior debut for Britain after being picked for next month’s Olympic qualifiers at the Copper Box in London.
Dubois, 19, the sister of professional heavyweight Daniel, is unbeaten in the junior ranks and has already won gold at Olympic, World and European youth level.
And Dubois, who pretended to be a boy called Colin to first take up the sport at an all-male boxing gym, has ambitions well beyond the qualifiers from 14-24 March.
She said: “The Olympics is the goal but not the end goal. I’d like to go pro afterwards and see how good I can do.”
There is also a place among Britain’s 13-person team for the event for Charley Davison, the mother of three returning to the ring after a seven-year hiatus.
And Davison said: “Being a mum is a lot harder than being a boxer. But being a mum has helped me a lot. It has made me more determined and more strong-minded. I do it for the children, it’s not just a hobby, I do it for them.
“I didn’t think I would come back to boxing after children but I’ve just got to take my chance and get to Tokyo. It would mean so much to make the Olympics.”
In all, 350 boxers from 40 countries will box at the qualifiers at the Copper Box. Among the British men, there are three medallists from last year’s World Championships in welterweight Pat McCormack, featherweight Peter McGrail and light-heavyweight Ben Whittaker. In all, seven of the eight GB men selected boast at least one major championship medal.
GB performance director Rob McCracken said: “The team has a good combination of experience and natural talent. The men are a capable and battle-hardened group that and the women’s squad has made good progress in the last 18 months.”
