Heavyweight boxing champion Daniel Dubois suffered an embarrassing mix-up over the weekend when he missed the Epsom Derby after travelling to the wrong racecourse. The 28-year-old British boxer had been invited to Epsom Downs as a guest of promoter Frank Warren, whose Queensbury Promotions managed the DerbyFest fan zone at the venue. Dubois was expected to be among the notable attendees for the prestigious event.
Wrong Turn to Ascot
However, when the main event was about to begin, Dubois was nowhere to be found. He had mistakenly driven to Ascot in Berkshire, realising his error only after arriving. This forced him to turn around and head to the correct location, but he got stuck in traffic and missed the Derby's highlight. He did manage to catch a few later races, joking about the ordeal: "We went all over the country to get to this place. It's my first time at Epsom - at least I made it with a few races to go."
Recent Victory and Rematch
Dubois remained in high spirits following his recent triumph, where he became a two-time world champion by defeating Fabio Wardley with an 11th-round stoppage, despite being knocked down twice. Wardley has since activated his rematch clause, stating: "The boxing world knows my character, and Saturday night proved that without a shred of doubt. It was a fight for the ages, but I made some mistakes that I will rectify in the rematch. Congratulations to Daniel, but I'm coming for you and my belt."
Dubois, however, is not willing to wait indefinitely: "Well, that's what they're talking about, but I'm not going to wait on no one. I'm going to get busy with that belt, defend that belt, and I can't wait to start improving, getting out there, and just maximizing what we've done and what we've worked on since I was a little kid and now we're here. I would maybe have preferred to fight someone else and travel with that belt. But if we've got to do it again, we'll do it again."
