ABOUT DEAN DODGE
Aged 11, I wanted to be a proessional footballer. Didn't every kid? I was playing regularly for my club. Always very competitive, my coach sent me to a local gym to improve on overall fitness... while at the gym, I discovered boxing and never looked back!
Having caught the boxing bug, I spent most of my amateur career at Yeovil ABC, taking a break at the age of 15 and returning to the gym aged 18, since returning, I dedicated myself to the sport and following a successful run of 45 bouts in the amateurs at an elite level, it seemed a natural progression to turn professional.
Obstacles are placed in our way to test if what we want, is really worth fighting for... my plan to become a professional boxer hit a major hurdle, when in 2016, I was denied my professional boxing license on medical grounds. An abnormality was picked up on a MRI scan and the subsequent decision without any further investigation to deny my boxing license had a negative and destructive effect on my mood. My life took a downward spiral.
I lost my job and was then made homeless, I spent nights sofa surfing at friends and on a few occasions, spending cold winter nights, trying to sleep in my car that I couldn't afford to drive. It felt like life was testing me at every turn, but I reminded myself... I AM a fighter and I was never going to give up on my dream.
When life grinds you down, you find out who your true friends are and for me, these friends came forward and gave me the support I needed to re-take control in my life.
I now had a new job but desperately needed to find my way back into the boxing ring.
A chance meeting with coach Dean Lewis, who is now my great friend, mentor and coach was to set me back on the right track and, as steel sharpens steel, we put a plan in motion to compete again in the boxing ring.
This was just the beginning and life wasn't about to get any easier.
My typical day became:
- Wake up at 05:30
- Work 06:00 - 14:00
- 90 min commute to the gym
- Train hard
- Travel home exhausted
- Eat
- Sleep
- Repeat.
WIth help from coach Dean Lewis the medical verdict was overturned and after all the stress and hardship caused by one stroke of the pen, my professional boxing license was granted.
Fast forward three years...
Eleven professional fights under my belt, growing in experience. I have some amazing sponsors and thanks to them, I can concentrate on boxing and training full time, unlocking my full potential.
A big shout out to my sponsors:
2020 has been a tough year for a lot of people, but I am so excited about the future of British boxing in 2021. - Dean Dodge, super feather-weight, professional boxer now trains at the Warrior Gym in Weston Super Mare with Coach Dean Lewis.
"Dean never fails to put on a great show for his army of fans and the Taunton tear up was no exception".
"The Taunton tear up saw a tenth victory for Dean 'El Diablo' Dodge, beating Sean Davis on points in a show stopping fight".
Check out his blog in the menu.
"Boxing," Sugar Ray Leonard wrote, "is the ultimate challenge. There is nothing that compares to testing yourself like the way you do in the ring."
He’s probably right; there’s no sport quite like it as a combination of discipline, artistry, violence and fame.
FIGHT NEWS:
New fight details coming soon!
