Plymouth teen Callum Dan becomes UK’s youngest pro boxer with debut win in Thailand
Under the guidance of coach Marlee Dann, Callum Steven Dann has already made a paid debut as a boxer
A teenager from Plymouth has become the youngest professional boxer in the UK having fought a month into his 16th birthday in a contest in Thailand in March 2025.
Callum Steven Dan turned 16 in March this year, and is studying for his GCSE exams this summer, but under the guidance of coach Marlee Dann has already made a paid debut as a pro boxer after travelling to Bangkok during the Easter holidays.Fighting at welterweight, Dan stopped Thai boxer Noy Vongsoudounag inside two rounds at the Thai Payak Boxing Gym in Thanyaburi, on April 6.
He has stayed put in Thailand so that he can have his second professional contest on April 24 before returning back home to Plymouth.
While the British Boxing Board of Control will not license boxers under the age of 18, Dan gained his status under the Thai Federation, which licences boxers aged 15 and over.
His coach Marlee Dann has trained Callum at Intense ABC in Honicknowle as an amateur, where he experienced over 30 bouts.
Marlee Dann told the Plymouth Herald: “Callum was an elite amateur as a junior and as a youth, but he was at that point where he started disappearing from the gym – I spoke to his dad, who was concerned that he was turning his back on boxing, so I said I would talk to him.
“He just said to me that he’d had 30 amateur contests, never felt like he had been outclassed but that some of the decisions hadn’t gone his way, and being from the South West, everything is against us.
“So I spoke to his dad who spoke to a couple of friends, and he managed to get some sponsorship to help pay for the cost of flights and accommodation, and I brought him out here. He had his debut on the sixth, and has his next fight on the 24th.”
He added: “He’s not licensed under the British Boxing Board of Control, he is licensed under the Thai Federation, but it’s no different really.
Callum is likely to return to south-east Asia to continue boxing until he reaches 18, but by then his coach believes he could be well versed in fighting in longer contests – with amateurs limited to three rounds only.
Dann said: “I think the key to it is that he is jumping over other people… Callum could well be 11-0 in his first 18 months to two years, so by the time he is 18 he will be ahead of those boxers who have spent years building up their skills and their record.
“[In the UK] I could have Callum in the gym for two years, convince him to box as an amateur for two more years, then if he turned pro at the age of 18 he has to go down the same path as other boxers who have spent years fighting only three times a year.
“It’s tortuous – you look at other boxers and they finish their career because of inactivity. They go from fighting as an amateur every week or every other week to then only being able to fight three times a year.
“But how are you meant to adjust to fighting four threes, six threes or eight three-minute rounds when you are only fighting three times a year? Or four if you are very lucky?
“I am in a fortunate position where I have met some very good people in Asia, and they have given me the opportunity as they consider me as their friend to put my fighters on.
“Callum is now the youngest professional boxer in the UK at 16 years and one month, and is one win and no defeats.
“I think the direction for him is that when you look at some of the greatest boxers of all time, and what age they turned professional, they were relatively young – not all but most of them.
“Look at Manny Pacquiao – he had 10 fights and 10 wins at 17. So when you sit there you think ‘if it worked for him, why can’t it work for other people’ – there’s nothing wrong with going down other paths and other routes.”
Callum sent his debutant opponent to the canvas in the first round of his professional career, and then launched a barrage in round two which led to a straight KO.
Marlee claims that Callum’s skills as an amateur can only stand him in good stead as a professional, and that taking an alternative path as a boxer could pay huge dividends.
He said: “At the end of the day, if you’ve had 30 amateur contests you know if you are made for the professionals – if you’ve been in with the best in the country or the best in Europe you know what you are capable of. And if you have that self-belief then you know where you have to adjust.
“The most important thing is that the person you’ve got is in the gym training, sparring with elite people, and being what they are meant to be.
“If they are meant to be a six-round or an eight-round fighter then they have to be trained to be that.
“Callum is extremely lucky as he is being given the right guidance in his life at a point where he could either go left or go right. He either walks away from boxing and accepts that he was a decent amateur, or he turns right and chases the dream, which is crazy, but I think most of the people in the western world are not promoted to chase their ambitions.
“For him to chase ambitions it is a dream for the next three to five years and if it pans out for him then what a story for him.”
