Throughout his rise in the amateur ranks and through four fights as a professional, middleweight prospect Dante Kirkman was living a dual life. While shining athletically in boxing, Kirkman was also excelling in school, eventually making his way to prestigious Stanford University in Stanford, California. Having graduated in June, Kirkman can now fully focus on his professional boxing career beginning this Saturday night as he takes on Dylan Carlson in a featured four-round bout at the Venue at Thunder Valley at Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln, California.
Kirkman (4-0, 2 KOs) of East Palo Alto, California developed a passion for both boxing and academics at a young age, through his parents Robert and Catherine. Kirkman’s father competed as an amateur boxer and continued to follow the sport as an adult. Robert’s love for boxing eventually rubbed off on his younger son Dante, who had tried his hand at team sports, but gravitated to the one-on-one aspect of the sweet science.
“In boxing, I could control my own destiny and with my dad being a boxing fan, he always wanted to raise my brother and I to protect ourselves,” recalls Kirkman. “Part of that was watching boxing. I remember watching Floyd Mayweather and thinking he was awesome. He gets to do his own thing and he wins without other people being a factor. Whether he loses a round or anything, it was always up to him. It wasn’t up to a lineman or somebody else making a bad pass.”
The studious side of Kirkman was heavily influenced by his mother Catherine, as well as his brother Tremaine, who is eight years older and graduated from Stanford in 2016.
“My mom went to Harvard for undergrad and Stanford for law school,” details Kirkman. “We grew up near Stanford, so if we went to a football game or a basketball game, that’s where we went. Obviously, with my mom having a history there and it being one of the best schools, it was always a dream for my brother and that passed down to me. For my dad, he always wanted us to have a good life. He would always say he wanted us to be cool nerds.”
As he progressed and began challenging himself as a fighter in national tournaments, Kirkman was hitting the books just as hard so that he could realize his dream of attending Stanford.
“It was pretty intense,” says Kirkman of the juggling of both worlds. “My mom played a big factor, making sure I didn’t slack off. It would have been very easy to slack off because I was tired after training. Whenever I would get back after training, I’d hit myself with the massage gun and be tired and my mom would go, ‘Alright it is homework time.’ So I would do homework for three or four hours until midnight or however long it took and then wake up for the next day. It was a grueling process that I feel is a testament to the people that care about me. It was not a fun experience necessarily, but something I was able to bite down and get through.”
By the time Kirkman was accepted and enrolled at Stanford, the COVID-19 pandemic had hit, which meant beginning college life off campus in a remote learning setting. With the coronavirus uncontrolled, Kirkman did not have any sanctioned competitions to worry about as he began school and continued to train. While most of his classmates were likely disappointed, Kirkman found the positive in his unique situation.
“That year, USA Boxing was on pause for a majority of it,” explains Kirkman. “It was good for my training though, because I could really focus and then hop on the computer and go do homework and then go back to training. That year things were shut down for the most part.”
In 2023, while preparing for the U.S. Olympic Trials, Kirkman took a break from school to prepare for the tournament.
“For my schooling, we actually took a little bit of a break before the Olympic Trials,” explains Kirkman. “We felt like this was the time to take a few quarters off and have a good performance in the qualifiers. In the first round, I beat the National Golden Gloves champion of that year. In the quarterfinals, I beat the national champion of the weight class above me, who was also the number two seed. In the semi-finals, I lost a tough fight to Keon Davis. After the Olympic Trials, I went back on campus. Immediately after I lost, I knew that meant I was going to be turning pro and that was pretty tough with school.”
In many academic programs, student-athletes are given some level of grace with assignment deadlines and the like. As Kirkman prepared for his professional debut, which took place in May of last year and resulted in a four-round unanimous decision win over Henry Rivera, he found out that being a student/professional athlete did not garner him any leeway at Stanford.
“I thought maybe it might be easier,” admits Kirkman of his expectations. “I thought that professors would be a little more understanding since they knew I was competing at a high level in amateur boxing. But the label amateur led them to believe it was more of a hobby thing. As an athlete, but not an actual Stanford athlete, I wasn’t getting a lot of support from professors. I thought that might change with the professional label, but that did not change. So that was a pretty difficult process. I still had an amazing training camp and a dominant performance in my debut.”
Despite the heavy workload in school, Kirkman continued to excel in the ring as a professional. The East Palo Alto native, nicknamed “The Inferno,” scored a four-round unanimous decision over awkward Miguel Soto-Garcia last August before notching his first two stoppage victories last November and this past March. While finishing up his last quarter at Stanford, Kirkman was scheduled to fight this past May against tough Jose Manuel Gomez, before needing to withdraw from the bout.
“I saw he is also fighting on the sixth, so hopefully I will be able to share the ring with him after this fight,” says Kirkman of Gomez, who will be in the main event on Saturday against undefeated Islam Abdusamadov. “I was hoping to fight him in this fight, but I saw he was already booked. I think it would be a really great fight and I would like to take that step-up.”
While he did not get to fight in May, Kirkman, who majored in Art Practice, soon thereafter achieved one of his ambitions by graduating from Stanford University.
“It was pretty tough, but I grinded it out and officially finished as Stanford’s first professional boxer and graduate,” says Kirkman proudly. “It was really an honor. It was a letdown that I didn’t get to fight then, because I did want to fight then, but I was still very happy to graduate at that time and achieve one of my goals.”
Now, with his degree mounted on the wall, Dante Kirkman can focus entirely on his pursuits as a professional boxer. Outside of his time preparing for the Olympic Trials, Kirkman has always had his studies drawing his time and attention away from boxing, yet he still managed to compete at a high level. With that time no longer diverted, Kirkman the boxer is excited to show what he can do.
“I am blessed to be boxing full-time and I am really excited for this new journey,” explains Kirkman. “My whole boxing career, both in amateurs and professionally, has been while simultaneously trying to be the best I can be academically. I am excited to be getting the proper rest and proper training times and reaching new levels.”
Having graduated in June, Kirkman began camp for his next bout in July, his first as a professional boxer only.
“I graduated in June, so this camp has been pretty clear of anything to interrupt my training, so it has been great,” says Kirkman. “Now that I am out of school and not trying so hard to get an A in class or be late or anything, it really just makes things a whole lot easier. Now that I am full-time boxing, it also makes things easier mentally as well. I am mentally clear and fully have my mind on boxing. We have just been getting ready, looking to get back active and get as many fights as possible. We will take it one fight at a time, but after this, hopefully go up to six rounds and step-up the competition.”
Dylan Carlson (2-10-3, 1 KO) of Klamath Falls, Oregon may not sport the best record, but he has never been stopped, despite the ten defeats. While four rounds does not always provide the time required to finish a tough opponent inside the distance, Kirkman worries only about putting on the best performance possible and securing the victory this coming Saturday night.
“Whatever happens in the fight happens,” says Kirkman. “If he gets stopped, he gets stopped, but we are looking overall to just get the win. Our end goal is to get me to the top championship level, so we are always trying to increase our skillset and our secret sauce. I had a lot of improvement in my last fight camp. That fight ended up only being one round, so I didn’t get to show a whole lot of it in there. So for this fight, I am looking forward to showing how I’ve been developing as a pro and hopefully giving a sneak peak of what is to come in the future.”
Kirkman, no longer the student-athlete and now simply a prizefighter, plans to show his supportive fanbase what he can do when fully focused on his craft, beginning this Saturday in Lincoln.
“My fans can expect to see someone that is very passionate about boxing, displaying their skills on the blank canvas of the ring and doing what I always do: bringing the heat, as my Inferno nickname indicates,” says Kirkman. “I plan to put on a great show and a dominant performance.”
Tickets for the event, promoted by Upper Cut Promotions, are available online at uppercutpro.com
Photo by Ed Silva/Original Solo Photos
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortegajr.mario@gmail.com
