Homecoming celebrations for Irish boxing’s new golden girls will get underway on Saturday as champs Amy Broadhurst and Lisa O’Rourke fly home.
It was Turkish delight for Amy (25) and Lisa (20) as they made history at the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Istanbul on Thursday.
Louth County Cllr Maeve Yore, who has known Amy since the champ was a child, said: “She is fabulous, she’s our golden girl.
“She’s a great inspiration, a real role model. We’re having a homecoming celebration [tonight] and then we’ll surely have a civic reception for her.
“I’ve known Amy since she was around eight or nine when she’d call to the house, selling lottery tickets for her boxing club.
“We’re all delighted for her and her family. Her parents Tony and Sheila are fabulous.
“Amy is wonderful. She’s a topper and has really given Dundalk and Louth a terrific boost.”
Both fighters take home prize money between €86,000 and €94,000 and are each guaranteed €40,000 of Sport Ireland funding for 2023 as they aim for the 2024 Olympics.
Katie Taylor and Kellie Harrington, a current Olympic champion, are the only other Irish females to win gold at the World Championships and both achieved their successes on the way to their heroics at the Olympics.
It was a night of double jubilation for Ireland as first light welterweight Amy and then light middleweight Lisa – whose sister Aoife fought for Ireland at last year’s Olympics – won gold.
After writing her name into the history books, Amy spoke about becoming the first Irish women’s world champion since Harrington’s gold in New Delhi in 2018 and revealed the victory took her 20 years to achieve.
She said: “It’s taken a long road to get here. It’s been 20 years of my life that’s actually got me here. I’ve had European medals and that before, but all I’ve wanted was a world medal and to get a world gold is unbelievable.
“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet, I don’t think it will sink in until I’m at home on my own and I’m actually just thinking of what I’ve achieved.”
She told RTE’s Morning Ireland radio show: “I just knew from when I was a little girl this is what I wanted to do and even before I came out for my fight, I thought to myself 20 years ago, I started boxing and this is what I’ve been dreaming of since I was that age.
“So it was a case of, ‘Go and grab it’.”
Her proud dad Tony said: “It’s all emotions. It was absolutely fantastic. It was a dream that became reality.
“Amy fell in love with boxing at five years old and for 20 years, all she lives and breathes is boxing.”
As well as congratulations from Katie Taylor, Amy said her phone “has been hopping” and she has loved the “support that I’ve been getting, especially from Dundalk”. She added: I’m returning to Dundalk as a world champion, it doesn’t feel real, it’s madness.”
Southpaw Amy, who was born on St Patrick’s Day in 1997 and is known as Baby Canelo in boxing circles, was celebrated yesterday by her former Dundalk Colaiste Ris school.
It tweeted: “Congratulations Amy. Amazing, as always. All your hard work has paid off. We’re very proud of you.”
Lisa, from Ballinlough outside Castlerea in Co Roscommon, said immediately after winning gold: “I can’t find any words now.
“I won the European under-22s in Croatia in March but this something unexpected for me.
“My game plan is always to be on top of the podium – but I am over the moon after this success.”
Amy comes from a boxing family with her brothers and sister all title winners, while Lisa’s sister Aoife is already an Olympian.
Her family has a rural farm and run Castlerea Veterinary Clinic, where celebrations are ongoing.
A friend told said: “There is awful excitement about the place because of Lisa’s success. Everyone is delighted for her.”
Lisa is hailed as a down-to-earth woman, known for shopping in Ballinlough’s local Daybreak shop and also a brilliant GAA footballer, who became part of Roscommon’s senior football panel in 2018.
She has featured in her county’s National League campaign this year and was yesterday congratulated by her Castlerea St Kevin’s GAA Club.
It tweeted: “Unbelievable, Castlerea’s golden girl has won the world championship. Congrats to Lisa O’Rourke. What a fight, what a performance, what a warrior.”
Lisa has also won national basketball titles with her school and played soccer, but fell in love with boxing when she followed her older sister Aoife into Castlerea Boxing Club. Bernard Dunne, who recently left his role as head of the IABA’s High Performance Unit, spotted her potential.
Her great-grandfather Dan O’Rourke is a former Fianna Fail TD and GAA president, who was Roscommon manager when they won back-to-back All-Irelands in 1943 and 1944.
Lisa and Amy now join an elite club of five Irish boxers to win gold at the World Championships after Katie, Kellie, and Michael Conlan.
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