{"id":700327,"date":"2026-07-19T18:22:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T18:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/700327\/"},"modified":"2026-07-19T18:22:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T18:22:16","slug":"plymouth-teenage-boxer-who-is-becoming-a-superstar-in-asia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/700327\/","title":{"rendered":"Plymouth teenage boxer who is becoming a superstar in Asia"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe were driving around in a taxi, and then there was my face on a billboard. It was mental to be fair.”\"Plymouth<\/p>\n

Plymouth teen boxer Callum Dan continued his unbeaten record when he won a unanimous points verdict against Suresh Pasham on his debut in India, in a show at the Nexus Seawoods mall in Mumbai on Sunday, April 26<\/p>\n

Callum Dan is the first to admit he was not naturally talented when it came to boxing. That seems hard to believe considering the incredible tale which has already unfolded despite him not yet turning 18.<\/p>\n

Still 17, Callum became the youngest professional boxer in the UK when he fought just a month after his 16th birthday, by becoming licensed by the Asian Boxing Federation.<\/p>\n

Unable to turn pro in the UK until he is 18, Callum is already building a substantial record through paid bouts in Asia \u2013 the latest of which was in front of 3,000 people at an air conditioned mall in India.<\/p>\n

Having only completed his GCSEs at Lipson Co-operative Academy last year, the teenager found himself almost idolised when he fought \u2013 and won \u2013 at the Nexus Seawoods Mall in Mumbai.<\/p>\n

After out-pointing local favourite Suresh Pasham, Callum won over an initially partisan crowd, so much so that he was mobbed by people wanting to get a photo with him, even giving him their children to hold to mark the occasion.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoxing out there, the people were great,\u201d he said. \u201cThe support I had from just random people was amazing \u2013 I was being given six-month-old children to hold and take pictures with. I didn\u2019t know why, it was just really weird.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople were just handing me their kids, having photos of nans and grandads, it was mental.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Plymouth teen boxer Callum Dan continued his unbeaten record when he won a unanimous points verdict against Suresh Pasham on his debut in India, in a show at the Nexus Seawoods mall in Mumbai on Sunday, April 26 <\/p>\n

Callum said it took an hour for him to even get out of the ring after beating Pasham, which put paid to his hopes of a post-fight treat. \u201cMy goal was to get a Pizza Hut after the fight, but no chance \u2013 the mall was shut by the time I got out of the ring,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to take so many photos with people \u2013 I\u2019d do everybody on the left side of the ring, and by the time I got to the right side, there was hundreds of people on the left side of the ring again. I was like, \u2018all right, let\u2019s go, more photos\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

A partnership with promoters Marine Pro Boxing, who were staging the show, also meant that the Plymouth teenager\u2019s face was plastered on billboards across the Indian megacity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were all over the city,\u201d said Callum. \u201cWe were driving around in a taxi, and then there was my face on a billboard. It was mental to be fair.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I was like \u2018I\u2019m here now, I\u2019m used to it. I\u2019m on a billboard, people like me, and it\u2019s kind of like I\u2019m a superstar over there\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taking centre stage has become something Callum has had some experience of, having had six professional fights in Thailand prior to his Indian odyssey, with the first in April last year.<\/p>\n

But he said that preparations for his Mumbai clash a little over a year later were made more difficult by the cultural differences.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t easy, to say the least,\u201d he said. \u201cThe thing is with Thailand is that everything\u2019s catered for foreigners, but in India, it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had two or three kilos to cut to make weight, and it\u2019s all spicy foods, salty foods, big, carby foods.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m trying to get a bit of steak, but cows are sacred, so I can\u2019t eat steak.\u201d<\/p>\n

A love of boxing was borne out of necessity for the 17-year-old; dad Shaun boxed as an amateur, but has had more experience as a coach, and also trained Callum\u2019s older brother Fin.<\/p>\n

With Callum and Fin\u2019s mum Karly at work, Shaun would take his youngest son along to Devonport Amateur Boxing Club from an early age.<\/p>\n

Callum explains: \u201cI had no other choice but to sit in the gym and watch my brother at the bags when I was like six, when my mum was at work and my dad was taking me.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut apart from that, I was always in the gym watching people older than me train. And then from there, I started to hit the bags, hit the pads, and then it was kind of was normal for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

He remembers his first contest, which was a skills bout, a chance for young boxers to put on a show without a winner being decided, when he was still in primary school.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cIt must\u2019ve been like a month after month after my 10th birthday, I think.<\/p>\n

\u201cI boxed in Bodmin, if I remember correctly. I had my first skills bout against a kid from Torquay. I loved it. I wasn\u2019t naturally talented at all, a lot of these kids are very fast twitch, but I was very slow. I needed to work quite hard to get to where I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

Callum describes himself as more \u2018gritty\u2019, having had to put in the training to improve his abilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get kids that, you put them in a ring with no boxing training, and they\u2019ll snap into it instantly,\u201d he said. \u201cI was not like that. I had to learn.<\/p>\n

\u201cI developed it over the space of five years training every day, twice a day. It\u2019s finally caught up and I\u2019m where I want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Callum trained and boxed regularly as an amateur for the next six years, while attending Lipson Vale Primary School and then what is now Lipson Academy. But it was a conversation with Intense ABC coach Marlee Dann, in Honicknowle, which saw them hatch a plan for Callum to turn professional two years earlier than he would normally be able to \u2013 by heading east to Thailand.<\/p>\n

Callum explained: \u201cI didn\u2019t want to box for England boxing anymore. I did not want to go back to amateur boxing.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy only options were white collar or professional, and Marlee put it to us that we could go out to Thailand and get a licence out there and turn pro. And obviously, I agreed. It was just a great opportunity for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was just one of his crazy ideas, but to be honest, it come off and, yeah, he was serious.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Plymouth boxer Callum Dan (right) in action<\/p>\n

Dann helped Callum and Shaun to secure a licence with the Asian Boxing Federation, while meant Callum was able to turn pro and have a debut at the Thai Payak Boxing Gym in Thanyaburi.<\/p>\n

The idea was a masterstroke, and reinvigorated Callum\u2019s love of boxing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was only in the gym for about three months before that fight. I got right back into it, hard, and I was still fat. And I wasn\u2019t really in the fighting shape I\u2019m in now, but got back out there.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of what I needed to put me back on the right path, back in the gym, back training, just something to focus on straightaway.<\/p>\n

The clash, against fellow debutant Noy Vongsoudounag, lasted just 16 seconds, as Callum stopped his opponent early in the first round.<\/p>\n

Callum said his solid amateur work had more than prepared him for what was to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was surreal at the start, but my first fight definitely was something where I was quite nervous,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut thinking back, all the fights I had as a kid were on this on the exact same level, it was just it\u2019s worded differently that I was a professional.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rounds are longer, the fights are longer, the people are older, but as a kid, I was boxing in hard fights constantly most weekends, sometimes twice two or three times a weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cUp until probably my last fight, my amateur career was very much harder than starting my pro career.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Callum Dan against Ratthaphum Ngambaisri in the Asian Boxing Federation middleweight title fight at the World Siam Stadium in Bangkok<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThe fights were nothing really, especially at the start \u2013 I\u2019ve had harder spars when I was 12 or 13 years old.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe level I was in as an amateur, I was in against European medallists, GB medallists, beating top kids in England \u2013 so probably end of next year I\u2019m not going to be touching that level again.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the level that you\u2019re at as an amateur, and then it takes so long to get back there as a professional. This is a It\u2019s basically a different sport. It changes completely.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an amateur I was probably boxing the equivalent of top 15 people in the UK as a pro. That\u2019s the level you\u2019re at as an amateur compared to professionals. There\u2019s not really a lot of people that are at that level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although he might have become used to becoming something of a name in Asia, he is grounded by his friends \u2013 who thought he was joking when he first told them he was going to box professional in Thailand \u2013 and his family, including mum Karly, dad Shaun and brothers Fin and little Crue, aged two.<\/p>\n

Dad Shaun, who still coaches at Intense ABC when not working as a plasterer or travelling as Callum\u2019s coach and cornerman, said the journey has been made possible through friends who have sponsored his son.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cIt wouldn\u2019t have been possible without the sponsors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have my put my hand in my pocket as well to fund it, but a lot of the sponsors that have got behind Cal are really good friends of mine.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re all hardworking people, and they\u2019ve got behind [Callum\u2019s] story as well, and the fact that he\u2019s so young and they can see the potential in what he is.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey didn\u2019t really know where it was going to go, they probably thought he was just going to box a couple of times, and I don\u2019t think they really felt that he could maybe win a title in Thailand<\/p>\n

\u201cSo for them, it\u2019s good that he\u2019s kind of gone to a certain level and he\u2019s getting the attention he\u2019s got, because it repays some of the investment that they\u2019ve got if they\u2019re getting the attention as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he said Callum is the one who has had to put the hours in at the gym to train.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Plymouth teenager Callum Dan made his professional boxing debut in Thailand<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cIt\u2019s difficult: it\u2019s a commitment for him to put that time in, he trains like 10 times a week, morning and evening. So he\u2019s putting in his time and investment. The sponsors are putting in theirs, but it\u2019s also the family time it takes as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got my missus at home with his younger brother as well while we\u2019re away, and I lose money at work while I\u2019m away with in Asia with him. There\u2019s a lot that goes around that, and there\u2019s a lot of people that sacrifice their own time as well for him, but it\u2019s coming to fruition at the minute, and we\u2019re on a good path. We\u2019ve still got a lot of work to do \u2013 in his last fight there was mistakes that we\u2019ve got to rectify. But we\u2019ve got time to do that, and we will.\u201d<\/p>\n

Callum has already secured one title, having won the Asian Boxing Federation (ABF) Silver Middleweight Championship by third-round stoppage in October last year, with another title tilt imminent.<\/p>\n

But his long term aim remains to return to the UK and gain a British licence once he turns 18.<\/p>\n

Shaun said: \u201cIt\u2019s tough to do it as a career because you need a lot of backing.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need you\u2019ve got to be at it every day, and you\u2019ve got to have a promoter in place to take you higher. If you haven\u2019t got that, then a lot of people just fall by the wayside and quit.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything needs to be in place really, and it\u2019s hard down here for every sport, whether it\u2019s boxing, football, whatever it is, because we\u2019re so far out on a limb.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not in those areas to really kind of get yourself noticed.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have got good lads who want to progress their careers, and get on the ladder, and it\u2019s out of their hands, they can\u2019t. So, we\u2019ve got to do things a little bit differently with Callum, and get him out there a bit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is why we\u2019re taking a risk in getting him out there early, just so that there could be someone that notices, or we could put him in a elevated position \u2013 jump the ladder if you like.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, the end goal would be a British title, when he\u2019s kind of is old enough to do that, but between now and then, it\u2019s going to be building and just progressing, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the interim, Callum is training in Plymouth and gaining experience of training in the same gym as British welterweight champion Constantin Ursu and IBO All-Africa super welter champion Tiago Muxanga.<\/p>\n

But it is another boxer who has professional experience, Lewis Everson, who Shaun said has generously given his time and experience to help Callum improve.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Plymouth teenager Callum Dan (right) made his professional debut in Thailand under the tutelage of Marlee Dann (left)<\/p>\n

Shaun said: \u201cWe\u2019re fortunate that we\u2019ve got someone like Lewis Everson that is that good in the gym helping Callum, and being generous with knowledge.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s the key, as you can spar as much as you want and just have wars in the gym, but for someone to say \u2018do this or move that way\u2019, that\u2019s the key to his progression. We\u2019ve just got to keep humble and keep working hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gaining the Youth Super Middleweight title will fulfil another of Callum\u2019s short-term goals before he can turn pro in the UK.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cI can hopefully get something big ticked off on my record, get something that\u2019s going to put me up there in the eyes of promoters like Queensberry and Matchroom, and just hopefully they bring an offer to the table, and I can carry on fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n

But for now, Callum said he doesn\u2019t miss the \u2018normal\u2019 life of a teenager, apart from perhaps getting to enjoy a takeaway.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot really,\u201d the talented youngster said. \u201cI don\u2019t drink or do anything like that \u2013 the only thing I wish sometimes is that I could eat a takeaway, but that\u2019s about it. Apart from that, I enjoy going to the gym. If I don\u2019t do it, I get a bit bored. I am just living the dream, doing what I want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWe were driving around in a taxi, and then there was my face on a billboard. It was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":700328,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,74716,1398,232593,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-700327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-devonport","tag-education","tag-lipson-co-operative-academy","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700327","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=700327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/700328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=700327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=700327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=700327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}