No sport can alter the path of an athlete’s life as quickly and dramatically as boxing but, last month, Mark Dickinson’s professional and private lives changed forever over the course of one long weekend.

On Saturday 28th March, Dickinson outfought Reece Farnhill over ten gruelling but action packed rounds to become the new English super middleweight champion and announce himself as genuine threat to Britain’s top 168lbers.

The 25 year-old’s weekend was about to become even more memorable. The following day, he and his pregnant partner had an important appointment to attend.

“The next day we had the scan booked to go and find out if we were having a girl or a boy,” Dickinson, 8-1 (2 KOs), told The Ring.

“That just made my weekend even better. I kind of like forgot about the buzz of winning the fight and I was just buzzing that I was getting a son. It was probably the best weekend of my life to be honest. “

The news put the cap on what had been a real family affair for the Dickinson family.

The previous evening, Dickinson’s younger brother, Jacob, was the lead voice in his corner for the fight with Farnhill and successfully guided him to a career best performance.

Dickinson is only nine fights into his professional career but his brother is his fourth trainer.

He started his career with Ben Davison but then returned to his his old amateur trainer, Graeme Rutherford.

Last year, Dickinson found himself without a gym or trainer a few weeks ahead of his appearance in the relaunched but ill-fated Prizefighter tournament and Tony Sims stepped in to help him get ready for his fight with Japan’s Kazuto Takesako.

After suffering the first loss of his career, Dickinson decided to return home to the North East and put his belief in his brother, who held the pads for hundreds of rounds during the years they spent together at the famous Birtley Boxing Club.

Things worked out perfectly. Jacob put together the perfect gameplan and Dickinson carried it out to the tee.

“I knew he knew me inside out,” he said.

“He knows my strengths and he knows my weaknesses. I was just thinking there's no one else better to train us. I know people probably thought before the fight, ‘He’s been with all the top coaches and he's training with his younger brother now. He’s not going to be much good,’ but I think I proved it was the right decision because I think it was my best performance to date.

“There was a lot of pressure on that fight, not just in the sense of it being my first title but I kind of knew that if I didn't win that fight, then maybe my Matchroom Boxing days would have been kissed goodbye after two losses on the bounce pretty much, so I was just pleased to get it done.”

Not only did Dickinson get the job done, he did so after one of the best fights of the year so far. Farnhill is a tough, aggressive fighter who was always going to hold Dickinson’s desire and stamina up to the flame but the 25 year-old stood up to the pressure and paced himself brilliantly, picking his moments to attack in quick, accurate bursts.

It was a perfectly managed ten round performance from Dickinson but there were also flashes of the genuine quality that made him such a hot prospect when he decided to turn professional.

Beating a respected and previously undefeated fighter like Farnhill is a major statement and winning the English title ensures that he will will be given plenty of opportunities to capitalise on his success.

“I'm just pleased, because I think it gives me a reason to stay active and activity has been a big thing that's held me back from pushing on,” he said.

“Maybe I should be a little bit further on than I am but I'm pleased. I know it's not the same but I’ve picked up a lot of experience being in tough gyms and I've been sparring all the best lads. I think I'm just now starting to bring it into my fights. I’m not that young kid anymore that wants to shout his mouth off at press conferences. I look back on some of my interviews - especially around the Grant Dennis fight [a fifth round stoppage in November 2023] - and it makes me cringe a bit to be honest.”

Dickinson’s emergence is a simple case of him maturing. He was a star amateur and amassed a number of national titles and represented Team GB on numerous occasions, boxing at the European Games and 2019 World Championships.

The foundations for success have always been there, but Dickinson has finally figured out how to build on them.

He enters 2025 with a settled, expanding family and a familiar and trusted training team. He is also armed with the knowledge of exactly what it takes to succeed as a professional fighter.

“I think professional boxing is not what you make it out to be before you turn over. I didn’t get to the Olympics but I was quite a top amateur in England and I think you have an idea in your head that you'll go pro, knock out your first ten and it'll be all good living from there, but it's not like that,” he said.

“I think it's like you've just got to not give up. You’ve got to go through patches and you don't want to sidetrack your mind to putting your mind into making money other ways or going to work because you want to focus on your goal. You only get one go at boxing so you may as well put 100% effort into it and get as far as you can go.

“And, look, if it doesn't work out, you can always go to work after boxing but I think the main thing is just not giving up on the actual goal.”