Tysie Gallagher: ‘I Want To Be Remembered As The Undisputed World Champion’

Tysie Gallagher: ‘I Want To Be Remembered As The Undisputed World Champion’

By Louis Devereux

Women’s boxing has exploded in popularity in recent years, with fighters like Katie Taylor, Claressa Shields and Natasha Jonas at the forefront of it all.

The newest addition to this ever-growing list of talented female fighters is Tysie Gallagher, a 23-year-old with big ambitions from Luton. With a debut set for later this year, Tysie is working hard, juggling being a mum with training and preparing for her first professional fight.

‘Everything is good for me at the moment yeah. I train pretty much every day, sometimes twice a day, and obviously I’ve got a little girl so I spend a lot of time with her doing school runs, swimming lessons and so on. So yeah, busy!

‘I’m very excited for my debut, I’ve been waiting a long time and I’m really looking forward to it. I don’t feel any nerves yet because I’ve been working so hard on lots of different things, and I’m just ready to showcase it now.’

A pro debut is a monumental event for any young boxer, and there is always a temptation to go in full speed ahead, wanting to get the highlight reel finish in a round or two.

For Tysie, though, this is not a priority and she assured me that gaining experience was far more important at this stage of her career.

‘Everyone knows that if you try too hard to knock someone out then it won’t happen, so I’d never go in looking for a knockout. I’m more than happy to stick to the plan, boxing to instructions, showing my skills and getting rounds under my belt. As a new professional, it’s important I get experience early on in so I won’t be going in for a super quick knockout, no.’

Though many see a boxer’s pro debut as the start of their journey, this isn’t correct. A professional debut is a milestone and a great achievement within itself, and it is earned after years of fighting as an amateur and dedicating your life to boxing.

‘I was about 11 when I started boxing; I was into loads of different sports and my mum took me down to the local community centre just to try it out, nothing too serious.

‘From that point on I fell in love with it, much more than the other sports I’d been doing. It’s been a part of my life ever since.
I won the junior ABAs when I was about 14, I got to the finals of the senior ABAs, I did tournaments in Ireland, Slovakia and I had really good experiences. I had just under 30 fights which I know isn’t that many, but I fought some great girls.’

Though similar, there are obvious differences between amateur and professional boxing, which means Tysie will have to make adjustments if she wants to replicate her amateur success in the pro game.

I wondered whether the recent growth in popularity of women’s boxing is what spurred her one to turn professional in 2021, rather than staying as an amateur for a few more years.

‘No one really cared about women’s pro boxing when I first got into it, but it’s grown so much over the years and that’s what gave me the confidence to want to turn pro.

‘Turning pro is going to be mainly about slowing everything down and learning to pace myself, rather than all guns blazing at 100 miles an hour like the amateurs.

‘I want to become a world champion for sure, yeah. I’m not going to rush anything but that’s the plan, because I know I’m definitely good enough. I want to fight the best of the divisions and that’s what will happen. I won’t dodge anybody and I’ll make my way up through the rankings to win a world title the right way.’

This interview ended the same as they always do when I’m the one asking the questions: I asked Tysie how she’d like to be remembered, and the answer she gave was ambitious, concise, and impressive.

‘I want to be remembered as the undisputed world champion who was true to herself- a hard worker and genuine person, who gave her all to chase her dreams.’