AMATEURS
Meet future star Gabriel Dossen
TALENTED Irish middleweight Gabriel Dossen is preparing to climb up the ranks. Only 18 years old, already a World Youth bronze medallist, Dossen had been adapting to boxing as a senior. He faces a crucial year. He is training and fighting for selection for his national team so that ultimately he can qualify for the next Olympic Games. “I’m up for selection camp. It started two weeks ago and goes on for the next four weeks. There’s a competition in
Amateur Editor
Belarus,” he told Boxing News. “The camp is tough.”
“Strength and conditioning, boxing, sparring. A lot of sparring sessions,” he continued. “There’ll be no one else in the gym, just two boxers and coaches. It is intense.
“We’re all training and putting in 100 percent.”
He had his first senior bouts at the Haringey Box Cup earlier this year, winning three consecutive contests on his way to taking the gold medal and the prize for best boxer. “That was a hard tournament, that was my second time boxing in it. I boxed in it in 2016,” he said. “I fought three tough lads, they were all older than me.
“I fought [River Wilson Bent in the final]. That was a very tough fight and he boxed well throughout the tournament. It wasn’t an easy final and as we were fighting along we attracted everyone, the crowd around was massive.”
“There’s a big difference [at senior level]. I moved up weight as well. I’m 75kgs now, this time last year I was 69kgs. My first elite tournament was the under 22 Europeans in March in Romania. I lost in the quarter-finals but I boxed two tough guys,” Dossen continued. “It was very close I lost on a split decision.”
He has been successful internationally as Youth, winning a bronze medal at the World championships in 2016. That came at a key point. Gabriel was also a quality football player but had to choose one sport to pursue. He’d picked boxing. “That did me well, because three or four months later I won a World bronze medal. It was a big decision though,” Dossen said. “I’ve been boxing since I was nine years old. My dad was a bit of a boxer… I was a bit of a crazy kid when I was younger. My dad’s been coaching me until I was 14, technical stuff like footwork, we used to train twice a day together. I was always training from young, no distractions, no parties or anything like that, I was always training.”
The elite national championships coming up at the start of next year will be vital if he is going to fulfil his Olympic dream. “It will be a huge factor,” he said. “This year is a big year for me, these next two years. I plan to win the Elites in January I’ll then probably be number one in Ireland and I’ll be sent to the Olympic qualifiers… After the Olympics I do plan to turn pro either in England or America, go on to be world champion, every boxer’s dream.” But he adds, “This year is crucial.” His confidence though is wellfounded. So far in his career Gabriel Dossen has rarely been beaten. “I’ve had over a hundred bouts, [I’ve lost] between 15 and 20,” he said. “I haven’t lost that much.” He hopes for that winning habit to continue.
‘THIS NEXT YEAR IS A BIG YEAR FOR ME. I PLAN TO WIN THE ELITE CHAMPIONSHIPS’ John Dennen @Boxingnewsjd