There are 10 seconds left of my training session with Don Charles and he has just punched me in the stomach for the third time in as many minutes.
My guard keeps slipping. My footwork is wrong. And I’m not rotating enough when I punch, the man currently training Daniel Dubois tells me. I imagine this is something of a downgrade in quality for him.
At the side of the ring, Mohammed Ali – yes, named after Muhammad Ali – tells me that the way I distribute my weight is wrong. As Dubois’ head of performance, he too is probably used to a slightly higher calibre of athlete.
I’m desperate for water and the clock is up on my pad work session. But Don is making me stay longer.
‘I’m not letting you leave until you do it right,’ he smiles. ‘We’ll start with two punches and end on 10.’
One, two. Better. One, two, three, four. Good! One, two… and I’ve lost it again. My footwork is sloppy.
And the wait goes on.
Welcome to Farm Gym, where heavyweight champions are made – and where Dubois has spent the last 16 weeks preparing for his WBO heavyweight title challenge against Fabio Wardley in Manchester on May 9.
Ciaran Foreman stepped into the ring with Daniel Dubois’ coach Don Charles at Farm Gym
Daily Mail Sport visited the gym ahead of Dubois’ upcoming title fight against Fabio Wardley
It is here, in a remote corner of Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, that Dubois and Charles reunited earlier this year – or, as Don puts it, where Dubois ‘came home’.
They separated for four months following Oleksandr Usyk’s second consecutive victory over Dubois, but Charles has overseen the best moments of his career – and both believe there is still more to come.
‘Not much was said,’ Don explains of their reconciliation in January. ‘But the body language when Daniel came back spoke for itself. I said ‘welcome back home’ and we embraced each other. That was it.’
Don, who has also worked with Derek Chisora, is speaking to me in a former tractor storage room, now complete with a boxing ring and training facilities for Dubois.
He is wrapping my hands in preparation for our session in the ring beneath the sound of early 2000s psychedelic soul music, and apologises for the smell of burning incense in the room. In truth, it compliments the smell of sweat and leather in the room.
‘I asked the farmer for years and years to convert this barn,’ he says.
‘Eventually he agreed and I put my own design on it. It’s very raw – very basic. But that’s all you need for boxing.’
Also in the room is a sand pit, which Dubois uses to train his leg strength and balance. There is a poster of Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky placed at the end of it. The rest of the gym is littered with punch bags, some hanging from the ceiling, some standing upright, almost begging to be punched.
Standing proudly on the wall next to the ring – fitted with theatrical lights like a fight-night boxing ring – is a huge poster reading: ‘Dynamite Daniel Dubois. IBF Heavyweight World Champion.’
A sand pit runs along one side of the room which has a Rocky movie poster at the end of it
The rest of the gym is littered with punch bags – some hang from the ceiling, some are upright
Dubois’ head of performance Mohammed Ali gave feedback from the side of the ring
Don crafted much of the gym for Dubois – his first world champion after 25 years coaching
Almost everything here has been built by Don for Dubois – his first world champion after 25 years in the coaching business. Dubois was elevated to the title following Usyk’s vacation in 2024.
From the outside, the farm does not look like what you would expect of the home of a world champion. The smell of nearby horses fills the nostrils and the surroundings are quiet other than the chirping of birds.
But visible over the rolling hills is the arch of Wembley Stadium – the site of Dubois’ greatest night, when he knocked out Anthony Joshua in September 2024.
‘I say to Daniel, “that’s your destiny”,’ Don says.
‘Every morning, he drives in, the first thing he sees is Wembley. For the AJ fight we had to go deep and search, and by the time we got to Wembley, he felt at home because it was like, “yeah, I’ve been here before” because he sees it every day.’
Dubois’ next fight will not be at Wembley, where he drew a post-war British boxing record crowd of 96,000.
Instead, he heads north to Manchester’s Co-op Live arena in front of a crowd of 23,500, in a Battle of Britain where he will try to rip the WBO heavyweight title from Wardley.
Wardley will not be easy, though. He has 20 wins from 21 fights, 19 by knockout, including a statement victory over Joseph Parker last October.
‘We’ve been here before,’ Don says. ‘We’re not arrogant. Daniel’s definitely not an arrogant kid.
‘Fabio’s the champion, we’re the challenger. We’re coming with a challenger’s mentality, but training like a challenger.’
I ask how exactly he is preparing Dubois mentally.
‘If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you,’ Don laughs. ‘Like in The Godfather movies. You’re in a barn with horses. I can’t tell you things like that.’
With that, it is as good a time as any to step in the ring with him.
The Wembley arch is visible from Dubois’ gym – and the sight is used for inspiration
Dubois greatest night came when he knocked out Anthony Joshua in 2024 at Wembley
Dubois will fight Fabio Wardley on Saturday in Manchester for the WBO heavyweight title
We start with some basic cardio – a fitness test as he puts it, to make sure I am fit enough to move onto padwork.
So far, so good. I can do jumping jacks. I can shadow box. I pass Don’s initial test with flying colours.
Now onto the footwork.
As a right-hander, I am told to stand in a 12-4 stance: left foot pointing forward, right foot angled behind. Hands up by my cheeks, chin tucked, I am instructed to follow Don around the ring in a light galloping motion.
It sounds simple, but it is not – at least for me. Within seconds, my coordination abandons me, and any sense of rhythm disappears.
From the side of the ring, Ali – who also works with Conor Benn – tells me that I’m making more of a 12-6 stance and stops to say I’m putting too much weight on my front foot. My chin is also too high – a dangerous habit, he says.
After a while – and a great deal of patience from Ali and Don – we move on to the gloves.
I’m handed Dubois’ own pair. They are 10oz and, combined with the heavy hand wraps underneath, feel dense enough to make me sink in a swimming pool. Maybe Don’s Godfather reference is beginning to get to me.
Thankfully, the only water nearby is the bottle I’ve been draining to stay hydrated.
We start with a jab. Solid enough, I’m told. Then a right-hand. Bang!
‘He’s got power!’ Don exclaims, sounding surprised himself.
For the next 20 minutes, I follow him around the ring with renewed confidence, throwing jabs and uppercuts with a smile on my face despite my shoddy footwork and complete lack of grace.
The man preparing Daniel Dubois for a world title fight thinks I can punch. Or at least that’s what he said.
I head home happy.
