The walls of St Saviour’s Boxing Gym in Dublin are covered with photos of tough-looking
men, gloved-up and ready to fight. But next to Muhammed Ali, there’s a photo of Deirdre Gogarty with a World Title belt around her waist.
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World Champion 1997 Irish Boxer Deirdre Gogarty (this pic from 1994) |
Deirdre Gogarty won that belt in 1997 after ten years of
training in Ireland and America. Women’s
boxing was illegal in Ireland
then so she’d moved to Louisiana
“I started in Saviour’s really, I was young then and thought no-one in the world could beat me. It was an instinct in me to fight, it was just something I had to do,” she says, standing next to the ring.
Now a boxing coach and graphic artist in Louisiana, I met her in October when she came to Ireland to launch her autobiography. She also made time for a training session with Olympic
champion Katie Taylor.
Gogarty and Taylor go back a long way. When Gogarty won her
Women’s International Federation of Boxing title in New Orleans, 11-year-old Taylor wrote to her.
“I kept a letter she sent congratulating me on wining the
world title. And at the bottom she said maybe one they will let us box at the
Olympics,” Gogarty says.
“It is brilliant to see her now. I’m living a little bit
through her, I would have wanted everything she did and it’s just great she has
the chance now.”
But she says thinking any amateur boxer can make an easy
transition to professional fighting is a mistake. Gogarty herself went straight
into the pro game but she says for anyone with a choice that would be
“madness”.
Aside from the obvious differences of no head-gear and
smaller gloves, the Drogheda woman says the
fights are tougher.
“You are paid so you are expected to handle a lot more
punishment and fouls. You get fouled more – head-butts, low blows and kidney
punches. You are more prone to getting cut too. But in amateur the emphasis is
on safety,” she says.
And you’re alone, she says, there is no support like the High
Performance Team gives to amateur boxers in Ireland. She refers to professional
boxing promoters as “sharks”. In contrast amateur boxers compete in
highly-regulated tournaments.
One of Gogarty’s most famous fights was on the undercard for
Mike Tyson Vs Frank Bruno in 1996. Her opponent’s battered face put women’s
boxing on the map for millions of viewers.
But she hopes people will realise the huge differences
between professional and amateur scenes.
She says: “Boxing is tough at any level. But everyone should absolutely
try amateur boxing. Knowing you are fighting and being able to prepare for that
is a life experience that will stand to you.”
Gogarty hopes the so-called ‘Katie Taylor” effect will bring
girls into boxing gyms. But she’s unsure how many could ever compete at Olympic
level.
“There are not very many people, boys or girls, who go into
competition. It takes a special person to climb into that ring. It takes a lot
of courage. This is not a sport for everybody,” she says.
(and in Easons if you're in Ireland!)
A version of this story first appeared in the Irish Independent's FIT magazine.
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