{"id":573384,"date":"2026-05-08T18:32:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T18:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/573384\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T18:32:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T18:32:09","slug":"elgin-amateur-boxing-club-star-josh-dunlop-bounces-back-from-addiction-and-despair-to-return-to-ring-with-support-of-head-coach-paul-ratch-gordon-and-his-moray-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/573384\/","title":{"rendered":"Elgin Amateur Boxing Club star Josh Dunlop bounces back from addiction and despair to return to ring with support of head coach Paul \u2018Ratch\u2019 Gordon and his Moray club"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When Josh Dunlop<\/a> says that boxing saved his life, he really means it.<\/p>\n

A boxer for Scotland and a former club champion in his youth, Josh took the wrong path and fell into a spiral of despair.<\/p>\n

\"JoshJosh Dunlop fighting his old rival Clay Davidson in 2017. Picture: Daniel Forsyth<\/p>\n

He entered a seemingly endless battle with addiction and his world entered a very dark place – he simply couldn\u2019t find his way out.<\/p>\n

His bad lifestyle choices led to a previously fit and healthy Josh weighing in at almost 21 stone, with a 40-inch waist.<\/p>\n

At one point, he considered ending it all, but a burning desire to fight back was still there and his sporting background gave him his survival instinct.<\/p>\n

He says he has Elgin Amateur Boxing Club<\/a>, and their head coach Paul \u2018Ratch\u2019 Gordon<\/a> to thank for him being able to tell his recovery story.<\/p>\n

Not only did he return to boxing, but last week he was back in the ring for the first time in almost nine years in a 74kg bout – nine stones lighter than at his worst point.<\/p>\n

\"HisHis life turned around, Josh Dunlop wants to make his mark in the boxing ring once again. Picture: Daniel Forsyth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would never wish it on my worst enemy,\u201d said Josh, now aged 29 and living in Cullen.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s never nice to admit a battle with my addiction and other things going on in my home life.<\/p>\n

\u201cLife wasn’t going well for me, and I’ll never shy away from that.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoxing really has saved my life. Without it, god knows where I would have been.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially Ratch, everyone at Elgin Boxing Club and my close friends and family, they have really supported me to get me back to here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BackBack in 2014, Josh Dunlop (back left) was part of an emerging. crop of young Elgin ABC boxers along with Liam MacLean, Calum Wilson, Jack Reid, current pro Fraser Wilkinson and former Commonwealth Games fighter Megan Gordon (front). Picture: Daniel Forsyth<\/p>\n

And here is a very nice place indeed for Josh, back to prime fitness and health.<\/p>\n

More importantly for him, having split from Rebecca, his fiancee and mother of his young daughter Lottie-Mae during his worst times, they are back together now that he has overcome his demons and returned to the right path.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’d been properly sober for six months, and we got back together because I proved that I was back to being in a great place again – and that I was able to be a better father to Lottie-Mae.<\/p>\n

Another huge step forward was made at the end of April when Josh stepped through those familiar ropes and fought an exhibition bout in Kincorth against home boxer Clay Davidson – the last man he competed against nine years earlier.<\/p>\n

Most preciously, Rebecca was there to see him in his sport for the very first time, and wants to see all of his future bouts.<\/p>\n

\"BetterBetter days for Josh Dunlop who\u2019s back at Elgin Amateur Boxing Club. Picture: Daniel Forsyth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat meant a lot to me,\u201d Josh said.<\/p>\n

Josh was a young boy from Fochabers when he first took up boxing and came under the wing of \u2018Ratch\u2019, the head coach at Elgin ABC who quickly spotted his potential.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve known Josh since he’s been a kid,\u201d Paul said. \u201cHe was one of the first ones in the club when he restarted again, so I’ve known him from a child, to a boy, to a man.\u201d<\/p>\n

Josh is in no doubt about the positive influence his coach has had on his life.<\/p>\n

And when he began on the road to his recovery and started boxing again with some of the club\u2019s Buckie-based boxers, the chance came to fully resurrect his career.<\/p>\n

\"BoxerBoxer Josh Dunlop has returned to the sport at Elgin Amateur Boxing Club following a troubled few years in his personal life. Picture: Daniel Forsyth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe young lads really inspired me massively, and I knew I didn\u2019t just want to be watching – I needed to get back in that ring.<\/p>\n

\u201cRatch said he would put me through my medical and I did that last November.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen he said \u2018I’m going to give you four months to prove to me that you want this\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another part of Josh\u2019s recovery was landing a good job with an oil firm in Shetland, and he says every day he wakes up on the islands, he reads a message from his coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll be asking what training I’ve done in the morning, what training I’ve done at night, what I’ve eaten, and he makes sure every week that I’m still sticking to the plan.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s always there for me. He doesn\u2019t mollycoddle you if he thinks you\u2019re going to be a waste of time, but he knows if somebody is struggling, he will be there for you.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve known Ratch for the best part of 18 years now, and he’s not just a coach – he’s a father figure, he’s a friend as well and he does care about me.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout him I wouldn\u2019t be where I am, that\u2019s for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Josh also coaches at Elgin ABC and wants to be there for anyone who might hit a low point in their life.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople don\u2019t know how dark a place it can be, and you have to reach out to someone.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so open about it now and I always want folk to know the severity of what it can do to your life. I\u2019ll never be ashamed to admit that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m probably in the best shape of my life now and that\u2019s thanks to all the support I\u2019ve been given.<\/p>\n

\u201cSport, and organisations like this club can help you too. I’m always there to support folk as well, so if anyone does want to reach out to me, doing a wee training session with boxing or whatever it takes, I’m here.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know just how hard it can be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here<\/a> to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Josh Dunlop says that boxing saved his life, he really means it. A boxer for Scotland and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":573385,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[19489,2560,24463,913,19488,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-573384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-all-sport","tag-boxing","tag-inspire-me","tag-latest-news","tag-other-sport","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=573384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/573385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=573384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=573384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=573384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}