Talking Sport
No longer the ‘chubby little kid’ but an elite competitor
Talking Sport with Stephen Glennon
Galway City boxer and powerlifter Debbie O’Reilly may have, by her own admission, once been the “chubby little kid”, but today she is one of the country’s elite female athletes diligently preparing for a plethora of international competitions.
Saturday morning, and O’Reilly is bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. She is on her way to another work-out, some fine tuning ahead of the European Powerlifting Championships in Belfast on May 10. Two days before that, the Olympic BC boxer is due to fight an international bout in London. That’s hard core.
“So, I am flying back [from London] for the Europeans and I hope I am not too sore after the fight,” she says. “The girl I am boxing on May 8 is going for the Olympics. We ‘googled’ her and apparently she is trying to go with the Dominican Republic, although she hasn’t said that to us.”
As for the 26-year-old, she has not ruled out a tilt at the Olympics in the future, although with only three weight divisions in the international showcase at present, it would mean she would have to displace one Katie Taylor – 2012 London Olympics gold medallist – for the opportunity to represent her country.
“I won the intermediate All-Ireland in November but I boxed in the seniors in February (elite semi-final) and that didn’t go my way. What happened was I jumped out of Katie Taylor’s weight because I am not ready to fight her . . . yet!” she laughs. “I do have a long term goal and that is to fight her some day.”
Stepping up a weight at the national seniors, O’Reilly fought Kelly Harrington of Corinthians, who O’Reilly says was a much larger opponent. “She was so big. Her boxing skill would also have been better because she was 10 years at it. She could just hit me very, very hard,” explains the Rahoon native.
“It was a great fight though. I ended up coming back in the last round and knocking her around the ring but it was too little too late. I lost on points. Being honest with you, I was so nervous going in. She is in the World rankings. It was a huge step-up (from the intermediate grade).”
That said, the progress O’Reilly has made in the sport since she took it up in 2010 – and particularly since she joined Olympic two seasons ago – has been astounding. She credits her coaches, Michael Sweeney and John Mongan, as playing a huge part in her change of fortunes.
“They are two of the most dedicated fellows. They are great for trying to get the club’s name out there and the club charge next to nothing. It is like a ‘fiver’ a month. Mike and John though are very dedicated,” praises the Galway paramedic.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune