Daniel Gagnon

The first time he walked into a boxing club Daniel Gagnon knew he’d found something special. A disadvantaged kid from a series of broken homes, this youngster lived with 5 different families for the first 10 years of his life. “I had no direction,” admits Gagnon. “At age 12 I was doing drugs, running in the streets and going nowhere fast.”

Things got brighter though as Daniel met his future wife Linda at age 16, married at 17 and over the next few years steadily made the transition to adult life. But even with this newly-found stability Daniel felt that something was still missing. “ I had this anger inside me,” he explains, “And I just couldn’t deal with it.” The anger Daniel was experiencing is certainly no uncommon for someone in his situation. Being shuffled around from family to family during those crucial formative years certainly doesn’t make you feel wanted or loved – his sense of self-worth and confidence never had a chance to develop as the stable family environment many of us take for granted simply wasn’t there.

So after a lot of soul-searching, Daniel decided to give the sweet science a try and at age 23 walked into the local boxing gym. “As soon as I walked through the door, I could feel it,” he remembers. “It was the first time in my life that I felt like I wasn’t going to be judged for who I was and where I came from – I could breathe at last. Over the next few years Daniel became more and more involved in the sport, competing as often as possible and after only 25 amateur fights decided to turn pro.

Then 27 years of age, he knew he had to move quickly and that his pro career would probably be fast and furious. “Everybody said I was too old to start,” he says. “And maybe they were right but I still had to give it my best shot.” Daniel’s pro career spanned 8 fights and all of them were competitive including 2 fights against a young and rising, Dave Hilton. The first was a 4-rounder with Daniel taking rounds 1-3 on points. “I felt good and was in control of the action,” he explains, “ But got dropped with a body shot in the 4th and just couldn’t make the count.” Hilton, needing a more decisive victory granted Daniel a quick rematch several months later at the Montreal Forum. Daniel also performed very well in this 4-rounder but unfortunately lost a controversial decision. “I frustrated him for most of the fight and made him miss a lot of punches,” he explains. “I feel I did enough to win that fight but I guess the judges saw it differently.” Considering, however, his own lack of experience and the quality of the opposition Daniel performed well beyond expectations in both of these fights as Dave Hilton went on to hold multiple world titles in several weight classes.

As significant as these 2 fights were however, they were not Daniel’s greatest accomplishment – that came in a later match-up against an undefeated young prospect named Denis Blais. A 147 lb. welterweight, Blais was being groomed for a title shot against Dave Hilton and needed a decisive victory over a tough common opponent to prove himself worthy. Based on his 2 close fights with Hilton, Daniel got the call and eagerly accepted the challenge. “The fight was scheduled for 8 rounds,” remembers Daniel. “ And it was very close for the first 4 but in the 5th, I caught him.” A left-hook right-hand combination deposited Blais on the canvas. “He was out cold,” explains Daniel. “The ref. never even started the count. That was the greatest moment of my career,” he adds. “At the Forum, in front of that crowd and winning by a knockout.

As evident, Daniel has obviously had some impressive ring experience, but he still feels that his strongest contribution to the sport has been in the area of training, as has been involved with some very talented and successful fighters over the years, such as Gaetan Hart, Nicky Forlano and Denis Sigoin.

1. Gaetan Hart. A 3x Canadian lightweight champion who fought for a world title against a then undefeated superstar named, Aaron Pryor. Gagnon helped prepare Gaetan for that title shot as both a coach and sparring partner.

2. Nicky Forlano. Fought Gaetan Hart 4 times over the course of his career and also went 15 rounds against then world champion, Aaron Pryor. Daniel was one of his principal sparring partners in preparation for that title fight.

3. Denis Sigoin. Helped train him for a Canadian welterweight title shot against Montreal’s Dave Hilton - Sigoin was 25-0 at the time with 22 K.O.’s

Twenty-five years later Daniel , now a coach at Gatineau’s Gladiator Boxing Club, is still training young fighters. “I love this sport and all it’s done for me,” he says. “It’s given me so much and I just want to give something back.” And he has, as Daniel has trained and helped many young men overcome personal adversity and rise above their problems. His passion, however, does come at a cost since juggling work, family life and boxing is no easy task. Daniel, ofcourse, feels that the rewards are well worth the extra effort. “It’s very important work “ he explains “we’re not just building boxers, we’re building lives. “