“She was one of my idols growing up”
By Andy Spearman
World Champion boxer Katie Taylor has spoken of how Deirdre Gogarty, the Drogheda woman who blazed a trail for women’s boxing in this country and internationally in the 1990’s, was such a great inspiration to her when she was starting out her career.
Plans for the “Evening with Deirdre Gogarty” event to raise funds for the proposed statue of the Drogheda woman who became world champion are well advanced and is being eagerly looked forward to, not only by fans, but by Deirdre herself who will be in attendance.
The former Drogheda Grammar School student was born in 1969 into a professional family, her parents were dentists in the town, her sister went on to become a medical doctor and her brother is a musician.
Deirdre’s ambitions lay elsewhere however. She was enthralled by the stellar success of Barry McGuigan, the Clones Cyclone, who was World featherweight champion in 1985 and 1986 and held the British and European featherweight titles from 1983 to 1985.
Boxing is a difficult enough career to follow for a man but for a woman in Ireland at that time it was almost impossible, in fact it was illegal!
At the Evening with Deirdre Gogarty event, which takes place in the Crescent Concert Hall on May 19th, Deirdre will tell her own story of how she began in Drogheda and struggled for recognition and eventually became World Champion.
Deirdre remains an inspiration to women boxers the world over and that includes the current undisputed Lightweight Champion Katie Taylor who of course is currently preparing for her fight with Super-Lightweight World Champion Chantelle Cameron to become a two-weight undisputed World Champion at the 3Arena in Dublin on May 20, the night after the event un Drogheda.
The night before Katie Taylor’s recent press conference in Dublin, Ciaran McIvor, the Chairman of Drogheda’s Deirdre Gogarty Legacy Committee who are organising the “Evening with Deirdre Gogarty”, got a call from Deirdre asking him to read a message to Katie.
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The text read as follows:
“It is only for all the success you have had in your career that any attention has come back to me. When I opened the door for Irish women’s professional boxing, it wouldn’t have meant anything, if you didn’t run through it.
“If you hadn’t taken women’s boxing to another level, then my world title with Christy Martin would have been just for myself, not for women in the sport.
“I am truly grateful for what you have done for the sport and the country, as it has only brought more eyes to all of us trailblazers.
Having read Deirdre’s text, Katie became very emotional and in a video interview she spoke about how Deirdre was such an inspiration to her as a teenager, always so supportive and encouraging.
“I remember her taking a training session one day, she came by to watch me spar and she even invited me around another time for tea. Those words of encouragement meant the world to me as she was my hero growing up. She was the only female fighter I knew. She was absolutely incredible.”
You can view the video below (Go to 3.40mins):
Since then Frank Smith (CEO of Matchroom Boxing) has contacted the statue committee to say they will be inviting Deirdre and her son to be ringside for Katie’s fight on May 20th.
Tickets for the Evening with Deirdre Gogarty are available by clicking here
