Latest news with #KelseyLeonard
Irish Times
02-08-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Kelsey Leonard: I'm definitely capable of becoming boxing world champion
If you've ever had even a passing interest in boxing , you'll 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 . The fighter simply rotates his fists into position and a heavy clap rings around the gym. It's 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. What's going on inside the ring in Kildare's 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. READ MORE One at a time, they're 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. 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'll know the other boxer too, as long as things go according to plan. Eight-time Irish amateur champion Kelsey Leonard makes no bones about her goals: 'I think I'm definitely capable of becoming world champion. If I could become multiple-time world champion, that would be the ultimate goal'. It's a lofty ambition for the 25-year-old who makes her professional debut on August 2nd in Belfast, but it's not out of reach. Plus, with Katie Taylor nearing the end of her career, it would be a perfect time to make a splash. 'It would be great to be able to continue that legacy of Irish female fighters,' Leonard explains. 'She's always been a huge inspiration to me.' She followed in Taylor's footsteps last year, when she won the Haringey Box Cup, Europe's largest amateur boxing competition held in London every year. It bodes well for transitioning into the paid ranks, but professional boxing isn't a straightforward way to earn a living. 'It's 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't have to worry about it. I just know what I'm capable of.' [ All-Irish world title fight confirmed for Windsor Park in Belfast Opens in new window ] Kelsey Leonard and Michaela Walsh face each other in the 2024 IABA National Elite Championships Women's 57kg Finals. Photograph: INPHO/ Laszlo Geczo There's 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. 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're looking at a pretty ideal modern facility. 'It's 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. 'Now, we have the place next door, we have the recovery unit. We do boxing, strength and conditioning, core sessions, it's just everything you need in one spot.' The gym is hidden away within a warren of industrial estates in Naas . 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. 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. On the one hand it's 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. 'He's a very big advocate for brain health,' says Leonard. 'He wants you to do well in boxing, but then he wants you to still have all your brain cells intact, have a family afterwards. Kelsey Leonard: 'I think that might be why I loved it so much, because I was good at it straight away'. Photograph: Babs Daly 'Fighters naturally are going to be brave and they just want to fight. And we're 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're not getting loads of impact to the head.' [ Katie Taylor erases all the question marks with her third win over Amanda Serrano Opens in new window ] With her debut fast approaching, training is now made to fit the requirements of the fight, which will be four two-minute rounds. It's a change from Leonard's amateur career, where each session is three minutes. 'My training has to be tailored a little bit now because now I'm [doing] two-minute rounds. So it's short sprints, really high intensity cardio. I do like the two-minute rounds because there's a lot of action. But the three-minute rounds, you can set things up, you can think a little and use your technical ability.' 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't expect her to make a career of it. She had natural ability from the word 'go' and decided it was the sport for her. 'I 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, 'oh, I want to fight soon'. I always kind of underestimated myself, but when I won my first Irish title and I was representing my country, I was like 'I'm probably okay at this.'' She will face winless journeywoman Kira Carter in her debut fight on an undercard in Girdwood Community Hub in Belfast today (Saturday, August 2nd). Colm Murphy of Belfast battles England's Luke Pearson in the main event, but Leonard will surely catch a few eyes before then.
Irish Daily Mirror
29-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Kelsey Leonard ready to make her mark in professional game
Ireland's newest female professional boxer makes her debut this weekend after a stellar amateur career. Kelsey Leonard has won eight Irish Titles, as well as medalled at both the European and World Championships, and will now aim to follow in her idol Katie Taylor's footsteps in the pro ranks. The Kildare Town native's ultimate goal is to become a world champion - but the featherweight fighter will take it one step at a time. The first of those comes at the Girdwood Community Hub in Belfast on Saturday night when Leonard faces Leeds' Kira Carter (0-19-1) in a bout scheduled for four rounds. "I've obviously been an amateur for so long and I've been thinking about turning pro for a while," Leonard told the Irish Mirror. "And then at the start of this year, I finally was able to get all the applications in and medicals and stuff like that. So it took a little bit of time. So finally, I'm just really excited that it's finally happening now." The 26-year-old watched Taylor dominate her trilogy fight with Amanda Serrano at a sold-out Madison Square Garden earlier this month using the silky skills she perfected as an amateur. And Leonard believes her amateur pedigree, as well as her experience of fighting all over the world in countries such as Taiwan, Canada and Bulgaria, will stand to her as a pro. "I know a lot of people say you need to have a pro style, which is a little bit different to that amateur style. But I think having that amateur experience and the technical ability, it will push you on a lot further being able to do that as well," said Leonard. Kelsey Leonard (Image: Babs Daly) "I've boxed all over the world and I've boxed, I'd say, nearly every style. So it's good to have that experience and to just be aware of what you're getting into." Leonard is coached and managed by Niall Barrett in UNIT 3 Health and Fitness in Naas and is advised by 18-2 pro Gary Cully, who has fought on both of Katie Taylor's 3Arena cards, as well as massive events in the UK and beyond in recent years. Both Cully and Taylor are huge inspirations for Leonard, who has seen up close the work the 6ft2in southpaw, who fights at 135lbs, puts in. "I think Gary, because I see him every day and I see how much work he puts in, he's taught me so much about being professional and then seeing him on the big stage and seeing what he's been able to do is such an inspiration to me," she explained. "But then, ever since I was a kid, I've always looked up to Katie and seeing what she's been able to do just makes, not only for me, but for every female boxer, see what is possible." Barrett is hoping Leonard can fight - and win - four times in the first few months of her career that should get her inside the top 30 fighters in the world rankings. Gary Cully (Image: Dave Thompson/Matchroom) The aim is to then win a European championship in her seventh fight and to challenge for a world title in her tenth. Barrett has seen the commitment Leonard has put into her boxing over the past three and a half years of them working together. "After about six months I saw a lot in her so I sat her down and I said 'look I don't know if you know this but you could be really, really good, you could be special', but not on two days a week. "So I said 'go home, have a think about it, talk it over with your family and if so I think it might be worth reducing your work hours so that you can train a bit more'. "The very next day she came in, saying 'I handed in my notice at work, I'm going full-time boxing' and I was like 'I didn't mean that'. "But it just shows her commitment that she'll sacrifice and for the last three years she's been living on absolutely nothing, all with this single-minded focus of this big dream." Leonard turns pro at an exciting time for both women's boxing and Irish boxing as a whole. Taylor and Serrano headlined a historic all-female card in New York earlier this month, with Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions investing heavily in women's boxing. Meanwhile, big shows continue to take place in Ireland, with Michael Conlan headlining an event at the 3Arena in early September before Lewis Crocker and Paddy Donovan fight for the IBF world welterweight title at Windsor Park a week later. "There's so many shows now in Ireland and it's just like big time boxing's really coming back to Ireland now and there's so many big shows that will just help so much and just really help with that activity as well, which is great," added Leonard. "You had the full female card with MVP Promotions, that was huge for women's boxing. "That's only happened a couple of times before and for the amount of eyes that were on it, and it was on Netflix, it's huge. I think amateur boxing for females was always at a high level, especially in Ireland. But I think the pro is getting a lot more attention now. "Even in Ireland there's a couple more female pros turning over and a lot more big fights and title fights for women. So it's really, I think it's the perfect time for it." So what can people expect to see in the months and years ahead? "I don't want to put too much pressure on myself. I want to feel it out, but I'm a strong technical boxer, so I won't be losing that. But I am an entertaining boxer and I want to be an entertaining boxer. So just that when you're watching me fight, you will be entertained," said Leonard. "I'm not saying I'm not looking for knockouts or anything like that. If that type of stuff comes, it comes. But just entertainment." Leonard is very grateful to the continued support of her sponsors: UNIT 3: Health and Fitness Naas, Diva Coffee Co., Sli Beatha Floathouse Naas, The Unit Recovery Naas, Brendan Conlan Automobiles, The Curragh Racecourse, Fightstore Ireland, SDK Detailing. If any companies would like to help out with sponsorship, they can contact her manager and coach Niall Barrett at or on 087-2852774.
