{"id":41196,"date":"2025-08-02T06:24:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-02T06:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/41196\/"},"modified":"2025-08-02T06:24:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-02T06:24:12","slug":"im-definitely-capable-of-becoming-boxing-world-champion-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/41196\/","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019m definitely capable of becoming boxing world champion \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve ever had even a passing interest in boxing<\/a>, you\u2019ll have seen videos of world champions doing mittwork. In most of these the boxer effortlessly tip-taps away, while the coach does most of the movement<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The fighter simply rotates his fists into position and a heavy clap rings around the gym. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s the showy way of hitting pads, impressing only the most surface level viewers, and it gave the whole practice a bad name for a while.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s going on inside the ring in Kildare\u2019s<\/a> UNIT 3 gym is proper padwork. Everything here is based in real scenarios, and even with a body protector and mitts, coach Niall Barrett is taking a serious beating from the two boxers. <\/p>\n

One at a time, they\u2019re in with a combination, then pulling back as Barrett fires warning shots, then tearing back into their coach, before pivoting and disappearing out of his sight.<\/p>\n

Gary Cully, the 6ft 2ins lightweight, who seems to defy science by making that weight, is a familiar face to Irish boxing fans, having fought on major cards in Ireland and the UK. Soon enough, they\u2019ll know the other boxer too, as long as things go according to plan.<\/p>\n

Eight-time Irish amateur champion Kelsey Leonard makes no bones about her goals: \u201cI think I\u2019m definitely capable of becoming world champion. If I could become multiple-time world champion, that would be the ultimate goal\u201d. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a lofty ambition for the 25-year-old who makes her professional debut on August 2nd in Belfast, but it\u2019s not out of reach.<\/p>\n

Plus, with Katie Taylor nearing the end of her career, it would be a perfect time to make a splash. \u201cIt would be great to be able to continue that legacy of Irish female fighters,\u201d Leonard explains. \u201cShe\u2019s always been a huge inspiration to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

She followed in Taylor\u2019s footsteps last year, when she won the Haringey Box Cup, Europe\u2019s largest amateur boxing competition held in London every year. It bodes well for transitioning into the paid ranks, but professional boxing isn\u2019t a straightforward way to earn a living.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s quite hard financially, especially starting off. Roughly, it costs between four and five grand to fight each time. I could just get a full-time job and I wouldn\u2019t have to worry about it. I just know what I\u2019m capable of.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0All-Irish world title fight confirmed for Windsor Park in BelfastOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\"KelseyKelsey Leonard and Michaela Walsh face each other in the 2024 IABA National Elite Championships Women\u2019s 57kg Finals. Photograph: INPHO\/ Laszlo Geczo <\/p>\n

There\u2019s definitely a set up at UNIT 3 for her to do just that. Originally operating out of a single unit, with a commercial gym to the front and a small boxing ring to the back, the gym has expanded massively in the past couple of years. <\/p>\n

Now, the boxing side of operations takes place in a much bigger unit, with a full-scale ring standing alongside the old three-quarter-size model. Add in a recovery centre (hot tub, cold plunge, sauna) next door and you\u2019re looking at a pretty ideal modern facility.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s mental. It just used to be the small unit, which, at the time, felt like it was huge. There was so much going on and even that was top class. <\/p>\n

\u201cNow, we have the place next door, we have the recovery unit. We do boxing, strength and conditioning, core sessions, it\u2019s just everything you need in one spot.\u201d<\/p>\n

The gym is hidden away within a warren of industrial estates in Naas<\/a>. With 30 minutes left of the morning session, Barrett is standing in the centre of the ring with six or seven pairs of boxers crammed in. <\/p>\n

He is directing an infighting drill, where they jostle and shove and punch at vanishingly short range. The din of feet stomping on canvas is only interrupted when he shouts at them to stop throwing hard punches to the head.<\/p>\n

On the one hand it\u2019s an odd thing for a boxing coach to say. But Barrett is a trainer who is willing to address the massive risks his fighters take when they get in the ring.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a very big advocate for brain health,\u201d says Leonard. \u201cHe wants you to do well in boxing, but then he wants you to still have all your brain cells intact, have a family afterwards.<\/p>\n

\"KelseyKelsey Leonard: ‘I think that might be why I loved it so much, because I was good at it straight away’. Photograph: Babs Daly <\/p>\n

\u201cFighters naturally are going to be brave and they just want to fight. And we\u2019re not going to think about that as much as your coach should. A lot of the damage comes from excessive sparring – growing up, I never really would have thought about that. We do a lot of technical, slow training, you\u2019re not getting loads of impact to the head.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Katie Taylor erases all the question marks with her third win over Amanda SerranoOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

With her debut fast approaching, training is now made to fit the requirements of the fight, which will be four two-minute rounds. It\u2019s a change from Leonard\u2019s amateur career, where each session is three minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy training has to be tailored a little bit now because now I\u2019m [doing] two-minute rounds. So it\u2019s short sprints, really high intensity cardio. I do like the two-minute rounds because there\u2019s a lot of action. But the three-minute rounds, you can set things up, you can think a little and use your technical ability.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her passion for boxing was kindled in the ring at just nine-years-old, after she got a flier in school for her local club in the Curragh. She says that her parents were surprisingly approving of her new hobby, although they probably didn\u2019t expect her to make a career of it. She had natural ability from the word \u201cgo\u201d and decided it was the sport for her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that might be why I loved it so much, because I was good at it straight away. The minute I went in, I was like, \u2018oh, I want to fight soon\u2019. I always kind of underestimated myself, but when I won my first Irish title and I was representing my country, I was like \u2018I\u2019m probably okay at this.\u2019\u201c<\/p>\n

She will face winless journeywoman Kira Carter in her debut fight on an undercard in Girdwood Community Hub in Belfast today (Saturday, August 2nd). <\/p>\n

Colm Murphy of Belfast battles England\u2019s Luke Pearson in the main event, but Leonard will surely catch a few eyes before then. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you\u2019ve ever had even a passing interest in boxing, you\u2019ll have seen videos of world champions doing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41197,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[29427,703,49,48,29425,29426,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-41196","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-belfast","9":"tag-boxing","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-canada","12":"tag-kildare","13":"tag-naas","14":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}