Emma Dolan: “Hopefully, in 2023 I will be up there pushing for multiple titles and moving towards a world title.”

Emma Dolan: “Hopefully, in 2023 I will be up there pushing for multiple titles and moving towards a world title.”

By Matthew Elliott

When you speak with Emma Dolan it is clear that she has the belief to be a future world champion. After a successful amateur career, Emma turned professional in 2021. Her debut, a devastating stoppage inside one minute, was followed up by three points victories in which she won every round. All four wins came under the tutelage of Graham Everett, who Emma had teamed up with after moving across from the Amateur ranks, a decision accelerated by the onset of the Covid pandemic.

“I was in my gym in London, Churchills, a brilliant gym, and a good trainer (Sam) and I was due to do another year in the ABA’s and I think I would have had a good run there, but Covid happened and knocked it on the head. I was at home one evening watching Rachel Ball and Shannon Courtenay and I know them both from the amateurs and I thought, I fancy this, so I went down to Graham Everett’s gym and turned professional. I am pleased I made that decision and I have enjoyed it. I enjoy the pro style and everything about it,” Emma told me over Zoom.

After a perfect start to her professional career and having settled with a new trainer, Emma found herself having to make a tough life decision. Her partner got a new job and she decided to relocate with him, uprooting and moving to start a new life over one hundred miles away in Newark. With this came a change of gym and it was recently announced that she had teamed up with Carl Greaves, signing a three-year deal. Emma is delighted to have everything sorted.

“I am buzzing. Carl is brilliant, he has made me feel at home, not just in the gym but obviously since I have moved my whole life up here, he has made me feel really at home and everything, he is a top man, a really nice bloke and I cannot speak highly enough of him. I went up and did a couple of sessions with him and we gelled instantly on the pads, and he liked the way I worked, and I liked the way he coached, the way he breaks things down and I am looking forward to the journey. Carl has got loads of knowledge, he has been there and done it himself. All the lads at the gym have been really welcoming as well, it has been great, and I am loving it.”

In addition to training Emma, Carl will also manage her. With several exciting boxers already signed to his promotional company and with Carl having an affiliation with Ben Shalom’s Boxxer, I wondered whether this had any influence on her decision.

“No, it is a nice added bonus. I went and spoke to a few different trainers, well-known names but I got on really well with Carl and for me, that is a big thing. For me, if I can get on well with a trainer and become good friends with them outside the gym that is really important. I would feel comfortable if Carl popped around my house for a cup of tea and we can have a chat and a laugh. It is that kind of relationship, and that is the most important thing for me over anything else that goes with it.” 

The last ten months have seen women’s boxing elevated to the next level, with the Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano clash at Madison Square Garden followed by the all-female Boxxer card at the O2 Arena earlier this month. It is events such as these and the growing global recognition that make Emma even more determined to succeed.

“I know I belong in there. I am not being funny when I say that I belong up there with those sorts of girls. With almost fifty amateur fights, I have done my apprenticeship and it’s now all about fine-tuning things with Carl and I do not believe I am too far from appearing on those types of shows, capability-wise, and hopefully, Carl can push me in the right direction. I watch a lot of fights and I see certain girls climbing the ladder and I am pleased for them, it’s not me knocking them, I think it’s brilliant what they are doing but I think I am more than good enough to be there as well. Hopefully, in 2023 I will be up there pushing for multiple titles and moving towards a world title. That is ultimately what I want.”

Despite the quick start to her professional career, Emma has only featured once so far this year, a six-round victory over Jamileth Vallejos back in July. She is scheduled to fight again on December 16 at the Lady Eastwood Centre inside the Newark Showground, with an opponent to be announced shortly. Looking forward to 2023, Emma is hoping to fight more regularly and to increase the quality of opposition.

“2021 was a good year and I have been unlucky this year. I was due to fight in March but the opponent pulled out which was frustrating, so I have not been as active as I would have liked and have had two six-month breaks from December to July and from then until my next fight, Hopefully after December I can get a bit of momentum going and push forward for some bigger things in the New Year. I am happy to move at whatever pace Carl wants me to move at, but I want to fight more regularly and start stepping up the opposition. I honestly believe I am somebody, and other boxers will say likewise, that boxes better when facing better opposition. I have done it before in the amateurs, you rise to the occasion. Some people fold, but I believe I rise. I will have a couple more learning fights and then start pushing through onto bigger and better names and that will bring a lot more out of me.”

After fighting at bantamweight in three of her professional fights so far, Emma admits her future lies at super-flyweight, a weight she can make quite easily and one she feels she can excel at. For those who have not seen Emma fight before, what style can we expect from her?

“I am a good long-range boxer, quite limb based with long arms and long legs, obviously working with Carl who was a proper little fighter he is building that into my game, working on my body shots and my hooks and rounding my game off to be a bit more of a box fighter. I am naturally quite aggressive so building the shots that I need to be throwing on top of that which will add to my game. I consider myself to be quite aggressive, quite exciting but with a good boxing brain.”

In a division that features British talent such as Lauren Parker, Emma will be hoping to emulate her recent achievements and under the guidance of Carl, the future promises to be an exciting one.