In boxing circles, Gilbert ‘Tonka’ Kabamba is still considered a novice with only a few years of experience. But the super heavyweight, who lives in Dorchester, has delivered results in the ring, most recently last month, when he brought home a gold medal for USA Boxing at the Pan American Championships in Mexico.
The 25-year-old Kabamba had never heard of boxing until a chance encounter with a stranger on Carson Beach in 2021 pushed him into the sport. Now, five years later, he’s pursuing a dream: a spot on the U.S. Olympic squad in 2028, something that no Massachusetts man has accomplished since 1932.
That’s “the goal now for me for sure,” he said in an interview last week while training at Dorchester’s Waymaker Boxing (formerly Grealish Boxing) on Freeport Street.
“When I started out a few years ago my goal was always to make the Olympics, but I didn’t know how. All I knew was to get in great shape and fight my ass off…I kept fighting and I’m here now and I have it in the palm of my hand. I just have to secure it…