The rise in global stardom of one of Ireland’s greatest ever athletes, Katie Taylor, is often tagged with notations of how her achievements will inspire others.
Sarah Murphy’s parents would get to see that inspiration play out in real time when their daughter asked if she could start boxing over 12 years ago. A timeline that aligns with Taylor’s gold medal win at the 2012 Olympic games.
Sarah explained, “There was no family interest. I just turned around to Mam and Dad one day and said I wanted to start boxing. We went down to head coach Paddy Whelan in St Brigid’s Boxing Club and started. I grew a passion for it and realised it is what I want to do.”
A newfound passion spawned from watching the “Bray Bomber” on television. The now five-time national champion herself also brought her father, Wes, with her on this journey. It wasn’t long before he was on the floor too assisting sessions and is now the Kildare Town club’s Public Relations Officer.
“I’ve won a good few of my National Championships, we all missed out on one during Covid. I’ve only lost one national title and that was last year against a really good girl from Dublin. It didn’t go my way and we certainly thought it had but that is the joys of the sport,” Sarah said.
“That’s boxing for you,” Wes added.
Among those many national titles, Sarah holds her first in the highest of esteem. What is known in boxing circles as your Girl One, the national title for female boxers aged between 11 and 12.
“Ever since I won that and I had gotten that feeling, I never wanted to lose it. I had worked so hard to get there. When you move up, you train harder and harder because of the level and you are pushing your body to limits you didn’t even know they could be pushed to,” Sarah recalled.
Sarah is now hoping to represent Ireland at the IBA World Youth Boxing Championships, having already worn green at the 2022 EUBC Junior European Boxing Championships in Montesilvano, Italy.
“It didn’t go my way in Italy in 2022, but I gained massive experience and I am pushing again to represent my country. I won my U18s at the start of this year and unfortunately I didn’t get selected for the Europeans then in April. So I am pushing now for the worlds and we’ll know more after the weekend. When I was boxing for Ireland in Montesilvano, it was unreal,” Sarah explained.
At the time of the interview, Sarah was preparing for the fight that would dictate her World Championship prospects in the immediate future as she would have to become national champion once again to be considered.
“I am boxing against a very good girl from Wicklow. She is a year older than me because we are at U18 level. I am still 17. I am boxing her on Saturday in the National Stadium. I boxed her at the start of the year in the U18 finals and managed to beat her and made it onto the U18s team. I also boxed her in May and managed to scrape that one so it is our third meeting in the last few months,” Sarah said.
Sarah would once again come out on top and continued her unbeaten streak in 2024 that has seen her win an U18 National title in January, U17 Leinster in March and U17 National Championship in April, just to name a few.
Last Chance
Despite being only 17 years-old, 2024 will be Sarah’s last chance at going to the World Championships at underrage level with the competition only running every two years.
The young boxer’s attention now turns to training at the Irish Athletic Boxing Association’s (IABA) high-performance unit in Dublin.
Wes explained, “They bring in all the national champions of all ages, both male and female. Sometimes they will select the team based on their own process and other times they will send a full team. We don’t know just yet, earlier in the year for the Europeans they only brought a selection of boxers. We’re hoping they bring a full team this time, but we assume that is based around funding and all the rest of it.”
After her superb recent win to lift yet another title, Sarah’s now hoping she can secure a spot on the Irish team for 2024 IBA World Youth Boxing Championships in Montenegro. The competition is scheduled to take place from October 20 to November 6.
Sarah said, “It would be a different level of an experience. It would mean the absolute world to me. I will be going for gold in the Championship. I have been pushing myself past my limit, training five and six times a week with double sessions. Hopefully it will be worth it in the long run and I can get to the World Championships and get a medal.”