Robert Carry meets Oisin Fagan, another Irish hopeful in the professional boxing ranks who wants to make an impact on the world stage
Oisin Fagan – the first Irish winner on Bernard Dunne’s undercard at the Point two weeks ago – isn’t exactly your ordinary boxer. For a start, the US-based Dubliner never boxed at amateur level. He relocated to the US on an Oklahoma University soccer scholarship six years ago, which led to him graduate with a degree in Political Journalism, but a knee injury ended his hopes of making it as a pro.
Fagan moved into boxing in order to keep up his fitness levels, and found that he had something of a knack for it. But with his chances of a soccer career in ruins, he decided he had enough of life in the States, and started taking on prizefights in an attempt to earn enough money for his airfare back to Ireland. When he returned, he kept up boxing, and his career jumped up a notch when he won the Irish light welterweight title.
He eventually moved back to the States, where he still lives and teaches at an elementary school in an area of Oklahoma that many impoverished Mexican immigrants now call home; the classes he teaches are made up predominantly of their children.
But despite continually chalking up wins, the hard-hitting counter-puncher struggled to gain the sort of profile enjoyed by some of Ireland’s other prospects, such as John Duddy or Bernard Dunne. He believes his lack of an amateur profile is a big part of the problem, but he feels his efforts in training have meant he has made up the distance on fighters who took to the ring at an earlier age than he did.
“I feel I’ve caught up with all the lads that have had a lifetime of boxing experience because I work harder in the gym than any fighter I know,” the tough-chinned brawler says. “I used to think that having such a short amateur career was a disadvantage. This served true initially, as I lost three out of my first 10 fights. But now, since I’ve been learning on the job, my skills have been getting better and better with every fight. I also haven’t taken the damage that other fighters my age have sustained with their extensive amateur backgrounds.”
In spite of the initial lack of attention being paid to the current Oklahoma State champion, Fagan’s latest win – against UK-based fighter Chill John on the Dunne’s undercard – won’t have done him any harm.
“[John’s] record was decent, because the only losses he’d ever suffered had been at the hands of some top-notch fighters,” says Fagan of his slick opponent. “I knew I was in a tough situation and couldn’t take any chances with the lad.”
Refreshingly, the trash-talking that is becoming a staple in fight build-ups was notably absent from the pair’s preparations. “He was a very nice lad,” recalls Fagan. “I didn’t want to talk to him for a prolonged amount of time, but there seemed to be a mutual respect for each other from the start.”
The Point was packed to capacity for Dunne’s big fight. and Fagan was aware that it provided him with the ideal opportunity to make the Irish public take note, but things didn’t start well for the teacher. He recalls: “I tried to start off strongly, but John was just as eager to make a good first impression and he got the better of me in the first round.
“I remember in the third round, he threw a nice right hand and I heard an uncomfortable ring in my left ear. Since then, I have been told that my eardrum was burst from that point on.”
Luckily, Fagan managed to shrug of the injury and came on strong from the fourth round onwards. “I felt that while he was a little busier, I was the aggressor throughout the fight and was throwing the more powerful shots,” he says.
When the final bell rang, it was a coin-toss between who would take the bout. Fagan remembers: “I thought I did enough to shade it but I knew it would have to be close on the scorecards.”
The decision was passed to the ring announcer, and the home advantage proved enough – he called a score of 77–76 to “the first Irish winner of the night, Oisin Fagan”.
Although the decision could have gone either way, Fagan was happy to ride his luck on this occasion. “I fought unbeaten, former word champion, Paul Spadafora a few months ago and I thought I beat him more convincingly that I had Chill John, but on that occasion, the result went against me,” he says.
Bernard Dunne beat his Norwegian opponent Reidar Walstad later on that night on points over 12 rounds in somewhat unconvincing fashion, but Fagan feels Dunne deserved the win. “Walstad put on a good show and was tough, aggressive and had Bernard in trouble in spots,” he says, “but Bernard was much too skilled for him.”
Fagan’s record how stands at 19 wins (11 by knockout) with four losses, and he feels he is ready to take the step up to the next level.
“I’m still on track to do something in this division,” he notes. “I have to be very careful not to ruin what I have worked so hard for up to this point though. I think that within a year, my manager in the US, Stacy Goodson, will have secured either a world title fight or a big-money fight.
“Until then, I’m enjoying this great adventure and I’m enjoying my boxing more than ever now.”
