Boxing: Dale MacDonald to make professional boxing debut

The Tamworth native is set to make his professional boxing debut in front of his home crowd on the City vs Country fight night card this weekend.

But at 16 years old, when he first stepped into the same gym out of which he now trains with One2Boxing, he was just "an angry young boy".

"Growing up I had a lot of trials and tribulations," MacDonald said.

"I suffered a lot of years of bullying, and coming out the other side of that, I had a definition of what manhood was for me that was definitely skewed towards that classic, emotionless stereotype.

"Mike Abra was my coach [when I started boxing], he quickly became like a father figure to me then."

Through boxing, MacDonald began the long road to finding himself and what truly made him happy.

He had several dozen amateur fights in the decade after he began training, but stopped fighting in his mid-20s having burnt out.

"I was living in Adelaide at the time, and the training just got to me. It was all a bit too much, and I realised it wasn't sustainable for me," MacDonald said.

"I then transitioned into a coaching role."

Though he soon took a "complete hiatus" from the sport and moved to the US for four years between 2016 and 2020 with a corporate role, he eventually realised that was not the life for him.

MacDonald had begun the traditional corporate career because he "felt like it was a path I should be on", but then acknowledged he wasn't enjoying it and returned to Australia and "to my passions" in 2020.

"I now seek to make those passions a livelihood," he said.

MacDonald currently coaches boxing at the PCYC, runs guided meditation classes, organises a monthly men's circle, and operates a market stall selling a number of homemade products.

And while he is now content pursuing his passions, what makes MacDonald the happiest is coaching young men and women seeking direction, just like he was all those years ago.

"In teaching them, I'm growing myself," he said.

"I can only share my experience, and I'm honest in that with them. I'm vulnerable in sharing some things that have been tough for me, but it's so rewarding to see kids changing before your eyes."

At 36 years old, with a professional boxing debut impending, life has very much come full circle for MacDonald.

He began training as a misguided youth under Abra, and 20 years later returned to the same green shed which One2Boxing now calls home a serene, centred man pursuing his passions.

And on Saturday night, he will step into the ring against Armidale's Robbie Porter for the biggest challenge of his life.

"This opportunity came up, and I thought this really represents a huge test for me," MacDonald said.

"It's the be-all and end-all for this journey, it's putting myself through the ultimate test to step through the ropes again ... it's the culmination of many, many years of hard work."

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