Deirdre Gogarty Statue Taking Shape

The Dierdre Gogarty statue drive is taking shape quite literally.

The Irish boxing hero will be immortalized in bronze as plans are afoot to erect a statue in honour of her and her groundbreaking boxing career.

Laury Dizengremei, known for her statues currently in Drogheda town of Tony “Socks” Byrne (Boxing Olympic bronze medallist 1956), Joe Maher (World champion in handball), as well as David Bomber Pearce in Newport , has been commissioned to sculpt the statue of the trailblazer.

The respected sculptor last week funded a trip to Louisiana, stayed with the Irish native to discuss her dreams for the pose and look of the statue.

Gogarty’s young protégé Gabrielle Marvin, from her time at Rajun Cajun with Beau Williford, wore Gogarty’s kit to pose for sculptor Dizengremel in preparation for her to create a lifesize legacy statue for Drogheda, Ireland. Marvin, who won the National Youth Olympics in 2018 and Deirdre advised for her to wear kit and pose due to the fact she is close to the weight and height of Gogarty when she won the World title in 1997.

The Deirdre Gogarty legacy committee have currently managed to raise €16,000 and we have ,managed to pay the first instalment to the sculptor which includes a small maquette version of statue and the beginning of the life-size sculpture.

The Deirdre Gogarty Legacy Committee held a press conference in Drogheda last year to confirm their intentions and call for help in raising the funds necessary to get the statue made.

Gogarty’s is a boxing innings worth remembering. She was involved in what is deemed the first ever boxing bout between two women in 1991, albeit an ‘illegal’ and unsanctioned fight at The Shannon Arms in Limerick.

Unable to get a boxing license in Ireland she made the difficult choice to move to the USA and turn professional to chase a World title. This move made the Louth native the first-ever female professional boxer in Ireland and lead her to competing in one of the most historic female fights of all time.

Gogarty versus Christy Martin is now a fight of folklore and is deemed the spark that ignited much needed change for women’s boxing. Chief support to Mike Tyson versus Frank Bruno at the MGM Grand, the entertaining war was the first all-female bout to take place on a PPV boxing card.

Just a year later Gogarty, a hero to Katie Taylor, realized her dream of becoming a world champion by beating Bonnie Canino in Florida on 2nd of March 1997 for the Featherweight world professional title.

That victory cemented Gogarthy’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, the trailblazer has been recognised for her achievements by being inducted into the International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame in 2015.

It’s an achievement-packed transformative career that the Deirdre Gogarty Legacy Committee led by Ciaran Mc Ivor of Boxing Bants want to honour.

“Despite being a trailblazer for female athletes, becoming Ireland’s first female professional boxer and professional world champion inspiring the next generation of great fighters like Katie Taylor who used to write to Deirdre 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,”

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