GETTING TO THE OLYMPICS HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE BIG THING FOR IRISH BOXERS.
When I was trying to make it to the Worlds squad – a qualifier for the 2012 Games – I was 17 years old. We had all these amazing athletes on the team. I was surrounded by boxers like Michael Conlon, Paddy Barnes and Kenny Egan. John Joe Nevin, who I’m a good friend with now, went on to win a silver medal at the 2012 London games.
A lot of these guys were seniors while I was still a junior, but I trained with them and looked up to them every day.
The amateurs were always the big thing for me at the time. I always fell short at the last hurdles though. I just missed out on bronze medals for European titles twice. Looking back at the fact I was in the middle of college, working and doing boxing full-time unpaid – it was tough.
WHEN IT CAME TO THE WORLDS, I HAD A FINAL BOX OFF TO MAKE THE SQUAD.
I thought I’d won. But it turns out I didn’t. Rather than take the guy who beat me, the place in the squad was between another fighter and I. However, that was until the doctor revealed that I’d broken my hand. I thought it would’ve healed by the time the World Championships took place, but they pulled me out.
I always felt like I was on the wrong end of silly decisions.
One time I was competing in a competition in Moscow. I was in quarterfinals and would progress to a medal in the championships decisions had gone my way. In the fight I received two public warnings, which in the old boxing points system, means taking two points from you for each warning.
So in total I lost four points which is huge when you are at that level. The fight ended in a draw, possibly 8-8. But if I had not received the warnings I would have been up 12-8 and progressed. It went then to a judge’s decision and most of them were from countries surrounding Russia, so unsurprisingly they all picked the Azerbaijan boxers. But this is just what happens in the sport boxing.
I DID GO ON TO WIN A GOLDEN GLOVE COMPETITION IN WASHINGTON, USA IN 2013.
But not long after this I just quit boxing. I just thought, “what do I do now?” I was a bit of an idiot for around six to seven months and it took me a long time to get back on the right path.
During that time Ireland was struggling economically, and there were no real jobs. I’d just finished by degree, but there was now nothing left to keep me there. I didn’t want to wait another four years for the 2016 Olympics.
So I flipped a coin one morning to decide where I was going to go. I have a brother in Australia and sister in Dubai and whichever side it fell on, I’d go there. By that evening, I’d hopped on flight and landed in Dubai.
On my way over, I’d been doing some research and found an English guy who had a boxing coaching business, and I ended up working for him as a coach. I’d never done anything like personal training or fitness instructing before.
At the time, I had no interest in boxing again. I’d done it from age 14 to 21, always full-time high-performance training and boxing and felt burned out at this point. I’d had a few silly injuries along the way too. And those silly decisions too.
