Daniel Dubois will have a new trainer when he returns to the ring after having parted company with Martin Bowers.
It’s thought that Mark Tibbs could be in pole-position to take the reins but Bowers will have a say as he has just under three years to run on his managerial contract with Dubois.
The young heavyweight lost for the first time in 16 fights when stopped by Joe Joyce last November.
And while Dubois has made his decision, Bowers insists there’s no hard feelings.
“We’re going to see if we can find someone else to train him and we’ll move forward like that,” said Bowers. “That’s basically it. I can’t say much more because we haven’t sat down and discussed how we’re going to go forward but it is what it is. If he feels he can move on with is career I’m not going to hold him up.”
Is Bowers being made a scapegoat? He doesn’t think so as Dubois was ahead on points at the time of the stoppage, albeit controversially, before a damaged eye spelt his demise.
“I don’t see how,” Bowers continued. “I never did anything wrong. I think we ticked all the boxes. I think we got him the best sparring we could get. I think he was ready and prepared. I’m not going to chuck any mud at the boy. He needs to do whatever he thinks is best. I’d say that to any of the boys. If they wanted to go somewhere else, they can go. We had two meetings after the fight, everything was good, we were talking about who we were going to fight next and when he comes back to training. He had an appointment on the 19th of January which got cancelled to the 5th of February and I said, ‘See you in the gym after the 5th of February, unless you want to come in now’. He didn’t feel like he was ready to. He thought he needed the rest. Listen, have the rest. I don’t want him in the gym if he’s not ready to be in the gym.”
Some questioned Dubois’ mentality after the fight. His left eye closed severely and when the end came he listened to the referee’s count on his knee.
There were harsh calls of quitting, but Dubois clearly feels improvements can be made elsewhere.
“If someone can do better than me, go with them,” added Bowers. “I can only give you my heart and soul, if that’s not enough I don’t have more to give.”
