GALWAY’S GABRIEL DOSSEN has won gold at the Men’s European Elite Boxing Championships in Yerevan, Armenia, after defeating England’s Lewis Richardson in their 75kg final.
The 22-year-old, representing his country for the first time as a senior at a major international tournament, was awarded a unanimous decision in the middleweight showpiece following a closely-fought and entertaining contest with Colchester’s Richardson, 24.
Dossen took the first round on all five judges’ scorecards, routinely beating fellow southpaw Richardson both to the jab and with his backhand left.
The Englishman, however, came back well in the second, edging it 3-2 with neater, more accurate work, accentuated by a thudding two-punch combo as the pair briefly cut loose on each other.
That left it 20-18(x2) and 19-19 (x3) going into the last, meaning Dossen needed only to impress one of the three judges who had it level at that juncture in order to be crowned European champion.
Instead, he won them all over, battling conspicuous tiredness to outwork Richardson with flurries and winning the bout on each of the five judges’ scorecards.
Scenes in Yerevan as Ireland's Gabriell Dossen beats England's Lewis Richardson to win European gold at middleweight. Tremendous bout pic.twitter.com/ndwE70UFFM
— Kevin Byrne (@KevByrneBox) May 30, 2022
Dossen’s victory caps a remarkable couple of weeks for his club, Olympic BC Galway, and its head coach Mike Mongan, who also boast among their ranks a newly crowned world champion in the shape of Roscommon’s Lisa O’Rourke.
The same goes for Ireland’s lead trainer Zaur Antia, who along with his assistant coaches has steered Ireland to four major medals in the space of just two international tournaments in the backend of May.
Three of those medals were golds, and the silver was taken earlier this afternoon by Bangor man Dylan Eagleson who came up short in his 54kg final versus France’s Bilal Bennama.
European silver for Dylan Eagleson in his first competition as an elite. Soundly beaten by 🇫🇷 in the 54kg final but showed enough over the tournament, and even in flashes during the final itself, for Irish boxing fans to be so excited about this 19-year-old. Some breakthrough. pic.twitter.com/lS4HNqp2yD
— Gavan Casey (@GavanCasey) May 30, 2022
The 19-year-old is the son of former two-time European bronze medallist Phil Sutcliffe Sr and was competing in Armenia not only for the first time in a senior Ireland vest like Dossen, but in his very first competition as an elite: Eagleson has not yet even competed in the adult ranks of Ireland’s national championships.
His brilliant breakout run over the past week came to an end at the hands of Bennama, a two-time World Championship bronze medallist at 23.
For the first time all tournament, Eagleson was made to look a touch raw by his slightly slicker opponent. After losing the first round 10-9 across the board, the Irishman began the second brilliantly only to walk onto a counter left which dropped him to the canvas, all but securing the round — and the bout — for the silky Frenchman.
Bennama was able to ride out the third with a comfortable lead, Eagleson again showing glimpses of his future capacity for brilliance but not coming close to forcing the stoppage he needed for gold.
The teenager was conspicuously dispirited in defeat but was told to keep his head up by Bennama, and was reminded by his corner of how valuable an experience it had been for him to make it all the way to a major international final in his maiden outing as a senior.
Eagleson warmly applauded the excellent Bennama as both fighters awaited the official verdict.
The St Paul’s BC youngster is now entitled to €40,000 in Sport Ireland funding for 2023 and 2024, as is gold medallist Dossen.
