FIGHT of My Life, a new book written by Clare Champion journalist Owen Ryan, has now gone on sale in Ennis and Shannon bookshops, while it is also still available online via Amazon where it first appeared in December.
“I’m delighted that it’s now also available in bookshops and I’ve been very pleased with the reaction since it was published,” said Ryan this week.
The book is a gripping account of some of Ireland’s greatest ever boxers and their triumphs and tribulations, both inside and outside of the ring.
As well as being about the sweet science, the book also deals with a range of social and psychological themes, with depression, addiction, sectarianism, the impact of the Troubles and the place of Travellers in society all forming part of the boxers’ fascinating stories.
“My idea was to interview the fighters about their most memorable fight, but to also talk to them about their own lives, and many of them had absolutely fascinating personal stories,” says Ryan.
“Obviously I’m a boxing fan and over the years I’ve written quite a bit about it also. One thing I have always found is that boxers tend to be great interviewees, for whatever reason they are far more likely to be frank and open than people from other sports. I was also very aware that many boxers have had to overcome a degree of adversity so I felt the potential was there for a really interesting book and I hope that’s what I have delivered.”
He said that from the outset he was determined that while the book would be partly about the boxers’ career highlights, it couldn’t be just about that and would have to give a more rounded view of those featured, their backgrounds and what drove them.
“Over the years I’ve read lots of sports biographies and autobiographies and in my opinion the best ones are those that give a sense of the person rather than those that solely go back over victories and defeats so I’m pleased that this book goes way beyond the fights, hopefully giving a broader sense of those featured,” says Ryan.
Many of those included are household names. There are Olympic medallists including Kenneth Egan, Paddy Barnes, Wayne McCullough, Aidan Walsh and Michael Carruth.
There are also numerous professional world championships including Limerick’s Andy Lee, the aforementioned McCullough, Antrim’s Dave Boy McAuley and Barry McGuigan, who was perhaps Ireland’s most popular sportsman in the 1980s.
Wexford’s Billy Walsh recalls witnessing an IRA murder on the night he won his first senior title and speaks about how he left Irish boxing for the USA, despite having coached numerous Olympic medallists from this country.
Female boxing isn’t neglected and among those included are Deirdre Gogarty who won a world championship in the States in the 90s and whose fight with Christy Martin paved the way for women’s boxing to start to move into the mainstream.
Also there is Alanna Audley Murphy who took part in the first ever sanctioned women’s fight in Ireland against Katie Taylor.
“I really enjoyed working on the book because the people I interviewed were so helpful, there were lots of really great interviews, and the boxers were really open with me. Many of them have led fascinating lives and I was very lucky that they were so forthcoming and willing to talk about the highs and lows they had. My only job was to try and convey a sense of them and their stories and I hope people enjoy the finished product,” Ryan concluded.
Andrew Hamilton is a journalist, investigative reporter and podcaster who has been working in the media in Ireland for the past 20 years. His areas of special interest include the environment, mental health and politics.