In the process, he nabbed a victory in his weight class.

Dan Osborne competed Nov. 14 in the Guns N Hoses charity boxing event at the Kansas City Convention Center Grand Ballroom in Kansas City, Mo.

Competing in the 175-pound weight class, he faced off against Nate Deton, a deputy with the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office.

The two battled for three 1-minute rounds, with Osborne winning by decision.

“It felt pretty good,” Osborne said about getting back in the ring.

He said the most gratifying part of the event was having his son, Daniel, 6, nearby rooting for him.

“The coolest part was my son being ringside and cheering me on the whole time and hugging him right after,” Osborne said.

The Guns N Hoses event helped area residents support local police officers, firefighters and first responders. In addition, all proceeds benefited the Kansas City Crime Commission’s Surviving Spouse and Family Endowment fund. The SAFE fund provides financial assistance to spouses and children of those who have died in the line of duty.

Born in Missouri, Osborne, 31, went to school in Ohio for both middle school and high school. He graduated from Westfall High School, Williamsport, Ohio, in 2002 and then attended Virginia Military Institute where he earned a bachelor’s in psychology in 2006. From there, he earned a master’s in disaster preparedness and crisis management in 2011 from Grand Canyon University. He served seven years in the Air Force.

It was during his time at VMI that he really got into boxing.

Osborne competed in 39 fights while at the Lexington, Va., school.

He has sparred a few times since then, but started training about four months before the November bout.

He originally was serving as a volunteer firefighter for the Tonganoxie City Fire Department when a fellow firefighter here mentioned the charity event to him.

Osborne, who now is a part-time firefighter for the department, said he spent about 15 hours a week for four months training for last month’s fight.

He would run in the morning and then focus on boxing training later in the day Mondays through Fridays at a gym in Merriam.

Went Osborne stepped back into the ring for the fundraising fight, it didn’t take long for him to be back in the groove.

“As far as getting back in the ring, it was business as usual,” he said.

Osborne’s mother returned to this area of the country because of a move with her law enforcement career. He eventually did the same. This week, he begins as an emergency medical technician at Kansas University Hospital to complement his part-time position in Tonganoxie.

There are no plans yet for his next fight, which is fine with Osborne. The experience of both his parents and his son being in attendance still is fresh — especially for his son.

“He thought it was awesome,” Osborne said. “He said he was cheering me on the whole time, saying, ‘Go Dad, go Dad.'”