Ireland has a new European boxing champion in Gabriel Dossen. The 22-year-old from Olympic Boxing Club, Galway earned the decision of all five judges in his European Championship final against England’s Lewis Richardson on Monday.
The southpaw, who has been impressive though out the competition with his fast hands and athletic speed around the ring, beat his English opponent 5-0 to double the number of medals Ireland have won at the tournament in Armenia.
Earlier in the day 19-year-old Dylan Eagleson lost out to Frenchman Bilal Bennema in the bantamweight final. In his first major championship, it was an incredible performance from the St Paul’s Belfast teenager, who faced a standing count in the second round, when Bennema caught him and sent him down with a right hand.
In the French opponent he came up against a quick mover who was difficult to hit, and while the match was sometimes reduced to a chess game, Bennema’s scoring left jab and his almost acrobatic movement in the ring had him 4-1 ahead after the first round. In the end, all of the five judges gave the unanimous decision to France.
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Eagleson, a southpaw like Dossen, will look at the championships as a stepping stone to greater things over the next two years leading to the Olympic Games in Paris 2024. He is certain to only get better with more experience.
So too Dossen, who began his final boxing as he did in the semi-final, from a distance and using his right jab to great affect. But Dossen’s great weapon was his speed and again he was beating Richardson to the punch and pulling back before he was tagged.
After the first round all five judges had him 5-0 ahead as he impressed with the cleaner shots and slick combinations. While the third round was more of a conscious effort to see the fight safely home Dossen still landed a few stinging shots. His natural athleticism and speed were exceptional in a peerless first major final.
Dossen joins other Irish names that have won at European level and ranks alongside the likes of Michael Conlan, John Joe Nevin, Jason Quigley, Paddy Barnes, Joe Ward and Ray Moylette on the list of Irish European Championships gold medal winners.
It also caps a couple of golden weeks for the Galway club as Istanbul world champion Lisa O’Rourke, a Roscommon native, also boxes from Olympic BC.
