Daniel Hylton is a 25-year-old with his sights firmly set on becoming Jamaica’s next biggest name in boxing as he now goes pro.

Trained by former World Boxing Council Caribbean Boxing Federation welterweight champion Sakima Mullings, Hylton is confident the timing is right to make the transition from amateur boxing.

Hylton spent his time playing in the streets of Central Kingston before following his older brother to watch him train at the Stanley Couch Gym on East Queen Street. Former national boxer and Coach Richard “Shrimpy” Clarke invited Hylton, then only 10 years old, to put on a pair of gloves himself.

“I started training there with ‘Shrimp’ Clarke, barefooted,” Hylton shares. “I trained for about two years before I got my first fight. When I went into the National Junior Championship, I came out as the MVP. I felt great. From there I got the motivation to keep going, and from there on it was just forward for me.”

Hylton then represented Jamaica at his first Caribbean Championships in 2015 at the age of 15. There he earned a silver medal.

He then took two more silver medals in this tournament in 2016 and 2017 as well as silver in the schoolboy championships in those years.

From there he took part in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, in 2022, but only at the preliminary round.

“I didn’t let that demotivate me,” he says. “I kept on training and got called up for the 2023 Men’s World Boxing Championship in Uzbekistan.

He competed at the Central American and Caribbean Games as well, and although he did not return with medals, he was not deterred, as he finally got experience going through an Olympic Games qualifying cycle.

As amateurs can’t earn through sport, Hylton must make a living as a construction worker, also to provide for a key source of motivation in his life — his five-year-old daughter.

“Going pro I know I can live the dream I want to live, through boxing, by making the money to further myself and my family,” he says. “It’s rough, but with my determination I had to do it, and I want better for myself and so I had to turn pro.”

Hylton competed as an amateur on the undercard during the Wray and Nephew Contender series, which ran from 2011 to 2018. There he met and trained with Mullings, a two-time champion of the competition who was widely regarded as one of Jamaica’s best boxers during that era.

“When he stopped boxing he continued to impart his knowledge to the younger ones, and I was lucky to be one of those boxers,” Hylton says. “He’s been teaching me well. I went to him with the thought of going pro, and he’s been guiding me from then until now.”

Mullings credits Hylton’s mentality as the reason he can see a successful career for him as a professional.

“The number one attribute is the mindset,” Mullings says. “I met him when he was seven or eight years old, when he used to just come by the gym and play, but there was no interest there. He spoke about that watershed moment when he stopped playing and started training, and that resonates with me because, as a father myself, I’ve known him since he was a kid, and from then he made up his mind regarding what he wanted to do and who he wanted to become in life. Over the years I’ve seen him dedicate himself and discipline himself and continuously work towards that despite whatever challenges, hurdles, or obstacles that might have been in his way.

“What separates a good boxer from a great boxer is the mindset. He has all the physical attributes, also. Daniel has all the makings of a prototypical boxer. He has the height and reach advantage. He has good coordination, good athleticism, and power. He also puts in the requisite work.”

Hylton’s first fight is on a Wray and Nephew Fight Night on November 29, with him provisionally set to face Martin Anderson. He’ll be competing as a light welterweight.

“This is just the first step,” Hylton says. “From there we’ll see where my professional career takes me, but I’m taking it one step at a time.”

Hylton wants to make a name for himself locally before thoughts of competing internationally.

“Yuh affi dance ah yard before yuh dance abroad,” he says.

He does hope to have seven pro fights to his name over the next year.

MULLINGS…what separates a good boxer from a great boxer is the mindset