Firefighter-turned-professional boxer, Dean ‘Deano’ Gillen fought through a war with opponent Shaun White to win his pro debut on the Carl Greaves Promotions’ show on May 23rd at the Britannia Hotel in Nottingham.
The 32-year-old middleweight said after the Bank Holiday weekend fight, “It turned into a complete war and that is no understatement. Both boxers giving it their all and leaving nothing in the ring. I woke up in Australia this morning as I had to dig deep last night.”
Both boxers were making their professional debut on the night with Gillen having the home advantage over the away fighter, Shaun ‘Whitey’ White.
“It was a close fight and Shaun White has my complete respect; what a warrior! I landed some big shots as did he but we couldn’t put each other down. I’m healthy and I got the win so I’m happy. I will be back in the gym soon working on my defence,” said Gillen.
Prior to his debut, the Nottingham firefighter won gold in The World Police and Fire Games in 2013 by knocking out all of his opponents. The sporting occasion is a biennial athletic event attracting 10,000 applicants, just slightly fewer than the Olympic Games.
Promoter Carl Greaves was thrilled with his ‘Forest Fighting Boys’ show which featured all Nottingham Forest FC fans on the bill.
The main event involved 23-year-old Jamie Williams 5-1, who retained his International Masters flyweight title with a points win over 33-year-old Usman Ahmed 8-8.
Williams became the owner of the title by defeating Georgian boxer, Mikheil Soloninkini in Grantham last March.
Lightweight 25-year-old, Nathan Kirk 4-1 and 30-year-old light-middleweight, Terry Maughan 10-5-1 made it four wins out of four for Newark-based promoter, Carl Greaves.
The only debutant of the quartet also commented, “I would like to thank my previous coach, Jawaid Khaliq for helping me to get to where I am today and a big thanks to my manager and promoter, Carl Greaves who believed in me and gave me the opportunity.”
Team Deano would like to thank his sponsors American Fire Apparel and The Townhouse Bar & Kitchen and PR Manager Tim Rickson
To follow Dean Gillen on Twitter click here @TeamDeanoPro
For more info on Dean Gillen visit http://teamdeano.com/
