While he may not recall his exact age at the time, rising super featherweight prospect Dominique Francis (16-0, 10 KOs) clearly remembers the moment his love for boxing started. Whether one interprets it as an act of a fearless youth or a premonition of sorts, the now 24-year-old’s first day in the gym ignited a spark that soon ignited a powder keg within.
“I started boxing at age 10 or 11 years old,” Francis told The Boxing Rush Hour Show. “The first time I walked into a boxing gym, there was a belt. They had all of the accolades of the fighters there, all the belts and the trophies. I went to the showcase where they have all of the belts and stuff, I grabbed somebody’s belt and I held it in the air. My dad said, ‘Yo, what are you doing?’ I said, ‘That’s going to be mine.’ He said, ‘Put that down; you can’t do that!’
“Within my first year of boxing, I became number one in the state, region and number two in the nation. It’s been a beautiful journey and we’re still going.”
Fast forward to 2025, and it appears that Francis might just be on the way to making his bold claim a reality. Having made it to number eight in the WBA featherweight rankings, the man known as “Trapp” recently had his first 130-pound outing since making the decision to move up in weight last year. Here, a fourth-round stoppage of previously unbeaten Mexican Julio Carrera Lugo (18-1-1, 14 KOs) on that October night has only served to further build the hype surrounding him.
Blocking out the buzz and maintaining focus has come naturally for Francis; however, this is largely due to a mantra of hard work drilled into him as a child, which has followed into adulthood.
“Once I started, I was in it,” he said. “The way I was raised, (the belief was) that whatever you do, you’ve got to take it seriously and if you chose to do this and this is your decision, if this is what you choose to do, you’ve got to go ahead and do it. No matter what it is you’re doing, go ahead and take your craft seriously.
“My dad always told me, ‘No matter if you’re flipping burgers, be the best in that room at flipping a burger.’ If you’re doing it, you go ahead and do it and do it all the way.”
In-ring experiences have also helped to mold the Floridian’s line of thinking as well. Unlike most talented young fighters who have a road to success mapped out in fine detail, Francis has been an exception to the norm, stepping out of his comfort zone to fight on foreign soil. In his mind, bouts in Colombia, Argentina and Mexico have played a key role in his growth as a fighter.
“It was a good experience overall because it teaches you mental fortitude,” Francis lamented. “You can’t go in there playing, all lackadaisical, oblivious to situations. You’ve got to understand that you’re in a foreign territory right now, so anything is liable to happen.
“You’ve got to be militant. You’ve got to be focused, you’ve got to stay locked in with your team and go handle the business that you’re there to handle, get the job done and go back to the crib.”
Still, there is a sense of confidence underpinning the undefeated combatant, similar to the one that reared its head on his first day in the gym. Believing that true fight fans will come to love his style, Francis is out to ensure that he has their adulation for many years to come.
“You’ve got to expect something that you’ve never seen before, and if you’ve seen it, it’s something that you haven’t seen in a long time. You’ve got to be patient, and you’ve got to understand a work of art; this is an art. This is not just going out there and fighting and being reckless; this is an art. You’ve got to love the game, you’ve got to love the science and if you love that, then you’re going to love me.
“I’m here. The person that you were waiting for is here right now – Dominique ‘Trapp’ Francis. You’ve always got to remember the name and I’m going to be here for a long time.
Watch the full interview with Dominique “Trapp” Francis here:
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