LAST NIGHT REALLY WAS THE NIGHT

Last Friday 26th September, Gabriel Passelle put months upon months of preparation into a powerful performance and a hard-fought win against an awkward, aggressive opponent, who came to derail Gabe's aspirations.

Before his first fight in May this year, there was almost a 12-month period of preparation to obtain his professional license, undergoing medicals, training through Christmas, sacrificing his birthday and giving himself over wholly in pursuit of professional success. Straight after his first victory he was back in training.

Four days after Gabe's 2nd professional victory, I caught up with him 'working from home' (i.e. having a break), for the first time in a long while. 

MF: Firstly, congratulations - that was superb to watch. 

GP: Thanks, thanks a lot. Am glad you and so many others were there to see my performance. 

MF: How do you feel now - are you still basking in the glow of victory?

GP: Haha, I feel good and am relaxed. 

Honestly, it's a whirlwind of emotions in the lead-up to the fight. The excitement, the nerves, anxiety and the pressure all peak as I walk out and then as soon as that bell goes I'm able to release all of that in my performance, to produce the win. Then there's a deep feeling of relief that the months of dedication and preparation have come to an end and obviously the victory was pure euphoria, with all my friends and family there to see me - the experience is incredible.

But honestly, it's Tuesday now and it's quiet, we've gone back to normal. That adjustment from the high to now is just amazing.

MF: You came out with serious intent and a lot of energy. Was that part of the plan?

GP: I wanted to show him my power early on, but I probably loaded-up with my shots too much too early and that meant he tensed up immediately and went into 'fight mode'. So although I was hitting him clean and hitting him hard, he was ready for a war and respect to him, as he was really tough and a serious guy. 

With hindsight, I probably ought to have selected my shots and set up the power shots to the body with less frequency and that way they would've surprised him more. But he was expecting power and he was in 'shell mode', ready for impact.

Actually, I'll tell you what - Before the fight I overheard my coach saying that my opponent had his wife and kid at ringside. This surprised me! I told myself no one brings their wife to watch if they're out to lose, like a journeyman might ordinarily do. So again I told myself, this guy is a serious guy.

MF: The jab-cross-left hook to the body was working really well and I saw you land this combo several times. What did you feel was working best?

GP: He was often leaning forward and crowding me, which meant I had great success with a right uppercut to his upper body - pulled back - then a straight right to the head. But as you say, the left-right to the head, followed up with a left hook body shot was working really well, my bread-&-butter!

MF: What did you do after the fight?

GP: Fifteen of us; my Godmother, Auntie, the Mrs, my Mum and friends all went to my favourite vegan restaurant just around the corner and I ate a double vegan cheese-burger with fries, loadsa ketchup and finished it all with chocolate pudding. It was the dream.

MF: How you feeling about getting back in the gym?

GP: I'm excited, I can't wait to get back in the gym. I teach in the gym too, so I'll be in there this evening training others. But I'm going to rest for a short while before I get back into it.

I knew it would be 4-months of hard training for this fight and before that there was over a year of getting prepped. Going into this fight I felt a little bit burned out if I'm honest and even if I'm looking forward to getting back to work, I'm going to give myself a little bit of time off.

MF: Great decision! I think it's vital to recognise that you can't keep going at that intensity. 

GP: This weekend me and the Mrs are headed away to Brighton to chill out.

The rest of the year leaves me time to rest and recover, then get out again in December.

But for now I'm happy, it was a good fight for me. I learned a lot.

MF: What's the dream?

GP: To become World champion. That is why I'm doing what I'm doing.

I will be campaigning for titles at Super-welterweight.

MF: What's your biggest concern - what could get in your way?

GP: That's not even a consideration. The only thing that matters to me is the next fight. I trust the path I am on and I can see the next step, so that's where my attention is.

It impresses me how at-ease Gabe is with the hardships of the path he is on. He has a remarkable sense of self-reliance and it comes across as wisdom. He has faced fear and conquered it. There is a deep-rooted calm that makes Gabrielle impervious to trivial issues. He has the self-awareness to ask for help when he needs to. He knows he can control him and that's all that matters.