Donovan Ranches RYAN FROM THE 6IX interview: provincials gold

In the Donovan Ranches RYAN FROM THE 6IX interview, Ranches said he won gold at his first provincials and is back in training for next year’s nationals. The Toronto-area boxer also explained how a plan to lose weight brought him into the sport, why his first fight ended in defeat and what he wants to accomplish before turning professional.

What did Donovan Ranches say about winning provincials and preparing for nationals?

Donovan Ranches won gold at his first provincials after spending the year focused on that tournament. He is now training for next year’s nationals, where he expects to compete at 65 kilograms, or 143 pounds. He said the weight cut was difficult, but his preparation let him concentrate on performing.

Ranches described the tournament as the result of a year of hard training rather than a sudden breakthrough. He had also stayed busy in competition: by his estimate, provincials brought his total for the year to about 13 or 14 fights.

He expects a training camp before nationals, though he did not know when it would take place. Looking ahead to the 65-kilogram division, he said he had seen Ontario boxers at the weight and believed many of the leading competitors were in Quebec.

How did Donovan Ranches start boxing, and what happened in his first fight?

Donovan Ranches started boxing to lose weight after reaching 210 pounds, not because he was planning a competitive career. A coach encouraged him to enter a club show, and his first fight taught him that throwing everything in the opening round was not enough: he ran out of energy and lost by decision.

Andrew Kooner’s invitation to fight

Ranches said he had liked boxing as a child but first joined in for fitness. Andrew Kooner, his coach at the time and a two-time Olympian, asked whether he had considered fighting and offered him a place on an upcoming club show. Ranches began training for it and fell in love with the sport.

A first-round rush and a decision loss

In that debut, Ranches said he expected to knock out his opponent in the first round. Instead, he faced a much taller boxer while competing at about 165 pounds. He threw heavily in the opening round, then got off the stool for the second with no energy left. The decision loss changed his approach: he needed to get in shape and box, rather than simply trade punches.

Why does Donovan Ranches find making weight harder than training?

Donovan Ranches said staying on weight is the hardest part of boxing for him because he loves food. Running, strength and conditioning, boxing practice and sparring are demanding, but he regards them as expected parts of the sport; controlling what he eats presents a different challenge.

His provincials weight cut reinforced that point. Ranches did not present the difficulty as an excuse for his performance: he said he and his team got through it after a year of preparation.

Outside camp, he is happy to eat widely around Scarborough, where he is from, and said he is not picky. When asked about Vietnamese food, he named a Scarborough spot he considers a local staple.

What did Donovan Ranches say about training at 161 Boxing?

Donovan Ranches has trained at 161 Boxing in downtown Toronto for about a year. He said the gym gives him strong sparring without having to travel far, and that the arrival of more accomplished amateurs and professionals has raised the standard he tries to meet every day.

Omar Ahmed and the growing sparring group

Ranches named Omar Ahmed as one of his main sparring partners and said Ahmed finished second at provincials. He also pointed to Alex Campbell, whom he described as a Team Canada boxer who had competed at the Continental Games, along with Jisoo Lee, Michael Kobato and national champion Emmy.

Fredo was another example of the gym’s active group. Ranches said Fredo had scored a first-round stoppage on a United Promotions show the day before their conversation. Earlier, when the amateur group was smaller, Ranches said it was largely him and Ahmed training alongside some professionals.

The standard set by teammates and coaches

With more boxers joining, Ranches felt pushed to improve rather than settle for being the best person in the room. He put that approach plainly:

i don't want to be the best person in the room

He also named Stevie Bailey among the coaches and described 161 Boxing’s head coach, Julius, as a former national champion in France with extensive amateur experience. For Ranches, both the coaching and the daily work with his teammates are reasons the gym helps him progress.

When does Donovan Ranches want to turn professional?

Donovan Ranches wants to turn professional eventually, but plans to remain an amateur for another two or three years. Before making that move, he wants to compete in international tournaments and make the national team, building on the experience he is seeking at nationals.

That timeline means his provincials gold is a step in a longer amateur plan, not his cue to turn pro immediately. He wants more competition and exposure to different opponents before changing course.

Ranches also spoke about the depth of Canadian boxing. He identified Quebec and Ontario as strong sources of national-level boxers while expressing hope that fighters from western Canada would gain more opportunities to join them.

Which brands and fighters did Donovan Ranches name as favorites?

Donovan Ranches said Sting Sports already supports him, while Boxraw and Nike would be dream brands to work with. If he could choose a celebrity to see him fight, his answer was Manny Pacquiao; among current fighters, he singled out Shakur Stevenson and Gervonta Davis.

Gear and a dream ringside guest

Ranches made clear that he appreciates Sting Sports’ support. Asked what he would want from a dream brand arrangement, he chose boxing shoes over other gear. He named Pacquiao immediately when asked who he would most want in the crowd for one of his fights, and also said he likes Nonito Donaire.

Shakur Stevenson’s boxing

When the conversation turned to active fighters beyond Pacquiao, Ranches said Stevenson was probably one of his favorites at present. He also named Davis, but returned to Stevenson when choosing the boxer he most enjoys watching.

Where would Donovan Ranches stage a boxing event?

Donovan Ranches chose Toronto’s CN Tower when asked to place a boxing ring at any landmark in the world. He did not claim to know how an event there would work; it was his imaginative answer after seeing what a fight staged in Times Square could look like.

Ranches said he attended the Ryan Garcia event in Times Square. Although the ring area was blocked off and he watched on a screen, he recalled seeing the surrounding screens taken over by boxing imagery across multiple buildings.

That scale stayed with him. For a boxer training in downtown Toronto, the CN Tower was the local landmark he wanted to put forward, even as he acknowledged the practical difficulty of staging a fight on it.