Connal McDonald cites amateur win over Daniel Dubois before Lucas Roehrig fight

The Scottish champion meets the cruiserweight prospect at the Copper Box Arena on Saturday, on the Zuffa Boxing 12 card headlined by Chris Billam-Smith against Cheavon Clarke.

By Combat Sports UK Staff · Published Fri 6 Nov, 21:11 UK · AI-assisted reporting

Post by @SkySportsBoxing on X

Connal McDonald has warned Lucas Roehrig that he will approach their fight on Saturday with the same mindset that carried him past Daniel Dubois as a teenager.

The Scottish champion faces Roehrig at the Copper Box Arena on the Zuffa Boxing 12 card, which is topped by Chris Billam-Smith's clash with Cheavon Clarke and shown live on Sky Sports. The bout is a Zuffa Boxing debut for both men, and McDonald intends to upset a cruiserweight prospect being guided towards the top by former world champion George Groves.

McDonald was an experienced amateur and beat Dubois in the final of the Great British Youth championships in 2014. He was 17 at the time and said Dubois was either 16 or 17. Dubois has since become a two-time world heavyweight champion.

McDonald said he had gone into that final determined to school and smash an opponent who walked out looking like a superhero, adding: “The win looks great now! But at the time I was very, very confident, borderline cocky.” He described it as a tough fight in which Dubois was easy to land on, and said he was sure at the final bell that he had won.

McDonald said: “But I never would have thought he would have went on to be [one of the world's best heavyweights]. You're talking Usyk and probably Daniel Dubois now. Just respect to him for what he's done.” He told Roehrig he has come a long way since then and is a different boxer now, but that he will treat fight night exactly the same way.

In this story

Daniel Dubois