The campaign to erect a statue in honour of a Drogheda woman who blazed a trail for women’s boxing back in the nineties and who eventually became world champion, kicked off yesterday in Drogheda Boxing Club.
Despite being a trailblazer for female athletes, becoming Ireland’s first female professional boxer and professional world champion inspiring great fighters such as Katie Taylor who used to write to her as a young girl, Deirdre Gogarty has yet to receive the recognition in her hometown of Drogheda she deserves, recognition worthy of her incredible sporting career.
In 1991 Deirdre Gogarty stepped into the boxing ring at the back of The Shannon Arms in Limerick for an ‘illegal fight’ that would not only become legendary but would mark the beginning of an incredible fighting career for Deirdre.
This would go down as the first boxing bout on Irish soil between two women, although it was unsanctioned.
Unable to get a boxing license in Ireland she decided to move to the USA and turn professional to chase a World title. This made Deirdre Ireland’s ever female professional boxer.
Five years later Deirdre stepped into a very different ring in the MGM grand Las Vegas for a fierce fight against Christy Martin that would become the spark to ignite much needed change for women’s boxing.
This was the first all-female bout to take place on a Pay-per-view (PPV) boxing card which was the Mike Tyson Vs Frank Bruno bout. The face of women’s boxing was changed forever. Despite losing the bout it was a win for women’s boxing and became respected in the sport.
A year later Deirdre reached her dream of becoming world champion by beating Bonnie Canino in Florida on 2nd of March 1997 for the Featherweight world professional title.
This cemented Deirdre’s legacy in the sport as Ireland’s First female professional boxing world champion as well as Drogheda’s first and only professional boxing world champion.
Since retiring in 1998, Deirdre has been recognised for her achievements in the boxing world by being inducted into the International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame in 2015.
Monasterboice native Ciaran Mc Ivor of the Boxing Bants podcast has spearheaded a committee who are now working hard to have a statue of Deirdre Gogarty erected in her hometown where her story began.
The committee is made up of Natalie Kelly of the Drogheda Dolls, Louth County Councillor Joanna Byrne, Sinéad Brassil (LMFM radio) and David Thornton (Drogheda Boxing Club) have received a lot of support for this campaign already, and are kicking off their fundraising with a gofundme page that is now live and open for donations. Go Fund me: https://gofund.me/3689c910
Speaking about the possibility of a statue in her honour being erected in her home town Deirdre Gogarty said:
“I cannot begin to express how thrilled I am about the potential of a statue in the place where my journey began! In my days as a young woman, cycling through Drogheda on my way to the boxing club, I had such big dreams and ambitions. It was a very exciting time, but unfortunately my future as a boxer looked very bleak, when door after door would slam shut against women’s boxing in 1988.
“When Drogheda put up the statue of Tony “Socks” Byrne, I was in awe. I wanted to accomplish great things like Byrne’s Olympic medal, but women were not allowed box amateur, or in the Olympics back then, which was hugely frustrating.
“I made the difficult decision to leave Drogheda, turn professional, and move to the United States. Eventually, I fulfilled my dream of winning a world title, just like my idol Barry McGuigan. However, it would’ve been in vain if I weren’t able to break down barriers for other female boxers.
So, in the same way that I was inspired by Byrne’s statue, I hope that my statue will remind others that the most important factor in pursuing a dream is, persistence is everything!”
Katie Taylor 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist – Undisputed Lightweight professional World champion, weight world champion, said she was delighted that Deirdre’s contribution to the sport is being recognised.
“She was a true pioneer for women in boxing and one of my heroes growing up” Katie said. “She’s been a huge support to me over the years and it’s women like Deirdre and her fights with the likes of Christy Martin who paved the way for myself and the current generation of female fighters.”
