The 25-year-old lived up to her pre-fight billing as the overwhelming favourite with a mature and patient performance which resulted in a lopsided decision on the cards at London's Olympia.

Judge Robin Taylor had it 97-92 while Marcin Pawlak and Bob Williams both returned scores of 98-91 after 10 twos. Those scores were skewed further in Dubois’ favour by a sixth round knockdown.

“I felt like I started well,” Dubois said afterwards. “Terri was very negative but we knew she would be. I knew it would be hard to get her but I did in the sixth round.

“She showed why she’s a very good boxer. From my side there’s respect for sure. I put myself out there to show out for you guys.”

After a bitter war of words during the build-up to this fight, which topped the first-ever MVP show on British soil, peace broke out between them once the first bell rang.

The opening round was completely devoid of action as southpaw Dubois and orthodox Harper spent almost the entire 120 seconds feinting each other.

It was a similar story through the second although Dubois came close with a couple of shots towards the end of the round while Harper also found a home for her right hand.

The third was similarly uneventful as this encounter veered dangerously towards a complete anticlimax following the high-pace 10-rounder served up by Ellie Scotney and Mayelli Flores in the previous fight.

Dubois got through with a right hook early in the fourth and then came within an inch of following it with a hard left hand. She switched her attack to the body as her workrate crept up during a round that she clearly won.

Both boxers upped the activity levels in the fifth but they were made to miss by each other throughout and, by the halfway mark, it was still anyone’s fight.

But Dubois changed all that in the closing seconds of the sixth when she dropped Harper with a counter left hand. The champion from Yorkshire made it to her feet in time to beat the count as Dubois goaded her.

Even referee Victor Loughlin decided to remind Dubois about her conduct as she continued to talk to her opponent as the seventh round started. By now Dubois was in complete control and Harper was struggling to land anything whatsoever.

Things went from bad to worse during the eighth as she bled heavily from a nasty cut around her left eye, which was caused by a clash of heads, and she then shipped another hard left hand from Dubois. It seemed like a case of when and not if the Londoner would close the show.

But Harper dug deep in the 10th round, landing a series of hooks of her own in a desperate search for a smash-and-grab knockout.

Dubois, however, held firm and drilled home more left hands of her own to cement a deserved victory on the cards.

Now, Dubois can look forward to more unifications in her pursuit of the undisputed title. Stephanie Han currently holds the WBA belt while the hard-hitting Turk Elif Nur Turhan is IBF champion.

Said Dubois: “100 per cent undisputed is the plan.”