NATHAN GORMAN EXCLUSIVE! DUBOIS HAS THE PERFECT STYLE FOR ME

Eliot Stott recently caught up with exciting heavyweight prospect Nathan Gorman 12-0 (10 KOs) to discuss his career and the plans for 2018

To start things off could you please tell us a little bit about how you got into Boxing and how you’ve ended up to where you are today? Feel free to ramble on a bit!

So one of my first Boxing memories is my Dad not actually allowing me to box, but I’d try to convince him to let me go by just telling him that I was going for fitness reasons.

Obviously, one day I then snuck off to see what it was all about and fell in love with the environment. The whole surrounding of the gym itself whether it be the smell of sweat or seeing other people spar instantly made me want to be a part of it and although I was still quite young, I knew that it was for me.

Very early on, I was trained by former British champion Joe Singleton who had 40 fights mostly back in the 70’s, challenging for the European Welterweight title in the process.

Then when I was about 13 I started training at a gym in Macclesfield and trained for a short period before moving to what was a new gym at the time called South Cheshire ABC that was run by fellow pro Nathan Clarke who I got on really well with.

Nathan really believed in me and things progressed from there really.

Fantastic stuff, can you tell us a bit more about your actual amateur career and how you transitioned into a pro?

After forming a great relationship with Nathan who encouraged me to pursue the sport, I entered the ABA’s and became ABA champ with limited experience compared to everyone else in the competition.

I also made the GB squad and ended up being ranked as 5th in the world as a youth. So although I didn’t have a lengthy amateur career, I do feel as if I accomplished a lot before turning professional at 19.

Shortly before turning pro, I was offered to have a pads session with Ricky Hatton. Ricky being my favourite British fighter, I was incredibly nervous beforehand but the session ended up going well.

Considering what he’s achieved in the sport, I couldn’t believe how humble he was and a bit later done the line he offered to train me which was obviously a no-brainer.

Fair enough! Sounds like you’ve done very well for yourself so far. And how would you describe Ricky as a trainer?

As a trainer he’s on it 100%. If you aren’t hitting a shot correctly, he’ll have you do it until done correctly and for a sport as difficult as Boxing you need to be on the case. Also due to his experience and achievements, he’s worth listening to.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not as if we can’t have a laugh and a joke in the ring, it’s not a concentration camp! However, most of the time it is 100% business and everyone’s there to work.

We’re still early on in the year, what do you want from 2018? Is there anybody that you’d particularly like to fight?

It’s really up to my team to be honest with you. Ideally I’d like to have 4-5 fights this year and defend the title that I’ve got at least once.

However, my main goal this year is to get a shot at the British title. I’m still only 21 so very young to be challenging for it but that’s what I’d like to do.

As always though it’s always hard to predict the future in Boxing for a number of reasons, injuries being one of them.

Sounds exciting! Speaking of injuries, you were scheduled to fight Nick Webb before he pulled out through injury last year. Would I be right in thinking that you’ve moved on from the possibility of that fight happening?

Yeah he withdrew twice so I’d say that there’s a good chance that that fight won’t happen but we’ll see.

Rather than fighting Nick for the English title, I ended up fighting for a WBC belt which in my eyes is a bigger title than the English title.

If Nick was to stand in the way of me winning the British title or had something that I wanted then that would be different.

Stylistically, who do you think’s right for you in the division that could also be made in 2018?

Daniel Dubois. He’s got the perfect style for me. He only throws 1’s,2’s and jabs so it’s pretty easy to see what’s coming. I’ll admit that he’s big and strong but what heavyweight isn’t big and strong?

Glad that you mentioned Dubois actually, I’ve read that you’ve sparred him in the past. How long were those sparring sessions?

We must have sparred 200-300 rounds in total to be honest with you. We were put on the GB squad together between 2014 and 2016.

Everyone goes on about the amount of power that he’s got but it never bothered me to be honest.

Hopefully we both remain unbeaten and when the times comes we’ll both put our unbeaten records on the line, putting on a fight that everybody will want to see.

As well as Dubois, you’ve got a very high KO rate, how bigger a puncher would you say that you actually are? And do you think that you can sustain that sort of rate going further into your career as you move up in class?

Yeah hopefully, you’ve got to remember at 21 I’m still a baby in the sport but at the moment I’d say that a bigger strength of mine was speed rather than power.

I’d definitely prefer to stop someone rather than win on points and I do feel that I’d be able to keep doing that as I get a bit older and more powerful.

To finish off with, I’ve done a fair amount of research into you and from what I’ve seen you come across as somebody who’s passionate about Boxing and is a fan as well as a professional. Is that fair? If so, who do you like watching at the moment?

At the moment, I’d say that Lomachenko is the fighter I like watching the most. He’s something special and his foot movement is out of this world.

I’m actually a big Deontay Wilder fan as well. I know that he’s not so popular with some people due to the amount that he swings but I think that’s one of the reasons that makes him awkward. He’s extremely unorthodox and there’s not many out there that can punch harder than him.

*This interview was done before Nathan’s fight on the 24th of February

#nathangorman #danieldubois #hattonboxing #rickyhatton #frankwarren