TUS Midlands student wins European gold medal

TUS Midlands student Gabriel Dossen won a stunning gold medal at the European Amateur Boxing Championships in Armenia on Monday last.

It’s a remarkable achievement for Dossen, who was competing in his very first senior tournament.

Yet Dossen made light of his lack of experience as he produced an impressive display to overcome England’s Lewis Richardson in their middleweight final in Yerevan. His victory was confirmed by a unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards.

Dossen is a final-year business studies student at the Technological University of the Shannon in Athlone.

The Ivory Coast-born boxer is from Knocknacarra and is a member of the Olympic Boxing Club in Galway.

TUS Midlands tweeted heartiest congratulations to Dossen, describing his gold medal success as “an incredible achievement”.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Dossen said it was hard to digest the victory so soon after the fight.

“I don’t think it has really kicked in yet that I’m European champion,” he said.

“It just feels like another win. My phone has blown up. It all feels so surreal.”

Dossen, whose father is originally from Liberia and his mother from Ethiopia, overcame a bout of Covid earlier in the year and now he is a European boxing champion.

Dossen’s success comes hot on the heels of Lisa O’Rourke and Amy Broadhurst winning gold medals for Ireland in the World Championships in Istanbul.

In addition to her boxing prowess, O’Rourke is also a Roscommon footballer and she was introduced to the crowd at half-time during last Sunday’s Connacht SFC final at Pearses Stadium, in which Galway defeated the Rossies.