Linda Desmond's boxing brilliance recognised with Echo Women in Sport award
Linda Desmond of Rylane Boxing Club celebrates as she is declared victorious in her light welterweight 63kg final bout against Isabella Hughes of St Mary's Boxing Club. Picture: Seb Daly/Sportsfile
LINDA Desmond from Rylane Boxing Club has been selected as the November winner of the Echo Women in Sport awards.
This follows her outstanding and historic achievement of becoming the first Cork woman to win both senior and elite national boxing titles in the same season.
Desmond's recent phenomenal national boxing success did not go unnoticed by judges in their quest to acknowledge the excellence of female participation in sport on Leeside. For the last 10 years, her focus has been on developing her wide array of skills and true potential as a champion boxer.
Desmond is a natural athlete and has displayed a great flair in other sports such as camogie, ladies football and rugby. However, she truly believed her forte was in boxing and accordingly concentrated her energies in that sport.
The Irish ladies double champion in the 63.5 kg division spectacularly won her two titles within a couple of weeks. Following her victory in the senior grade in October the Rylane Club felt she was good enough to contest in the elite championships in November and the confidence they placed in her was justifiably rewarded.
Desmond is a native of Millstreet and still resides there. She is currently a third-level student at the MTU Tralee where she is studying veterinary nursing. She was invited to join the Rylane Boxing Club when she was 11 years of age.
This invitation came from John Barrett, a neighbor. All the Barretts were active in the Rylane Boxing Club and the family has produced multiple champions in all grades. They are also steeped in Gaelic games and are widely respected within the sporting fraternity of a town that became famous when Steve Collins defeated Chris Eubank to win the World Super Middleweight title in 1995.
Linda’s preference in sport primarily came from watching Katie Taylor win an Olympic Gold Medal in London in 2012. Katie became her hero and she admired her greatly.
She joined the Rylane Club which was established in 1979. Linda was warmly welcomed to the club by head coach Dan Lane who was also a founder member of the club. Lane is a Rylane native who over the last 40 years has enjoyed legendary status within the sport. In 2010, Lane was the beneficiary of a complimentary comment from then-Irish Head Boxing coach Billy Walsh, who said: “Nothing happens in Cork if Dan Lane is not involved".
Over the last decade, Desmond has made a great impression on the Irish boxing landscape. She vividly recalls her first bout for the Rylane Club, and admits to being both nervous and apprehensive but quickly adds that she received great words of wisdom from her first coach and neighour, John Barrett.
The very unassuming and quietly spoken Linda explained: “John was always there in the early years to give me confidence and hope in the ring irrespective of the way the scoring of the bout was going, he had a reassuring and calming influence on me, and ensured that I finally believed in myself."
Desmond went on to win multiple county Munster and national titles as an underage and juvenile boxer. She participated all over Ireland in both tournaments and championships. She was selected to box for her country against England in 2016. Three years later in 2019 she was given the opportunity once again to represent Ireland against the same opposition.
She was delighted to be selected for Ireland and was proud to be acknowledged as an international athlete. She took all the success in her stride but added, "It was when I was presented with my international pennant by the the Cork County Board in 2019 that I fully appreciated the honour bestowed upon me to represent my country."
The advent of Covid disrupted all sport and some athletes either retired or moved on to other interests. However, Linda was not fazed by the pandemic and maintained her interest in her boxing career by staying fit.
Over the years, her coaches within the Rylane Club changed and, in recent years, Desmond was coached by Dan Lane and Seanie Barrett, the man who brought the Rylane boxing club their first elite title in 1999.
From the commencement of the current season, Desmond had to devise a strategy to facilitate her college education while continuing to compete as a boxing athlete. Linda worked out a programme to cater both. She set her sights on winning an Irish senior title. Amidst great jubilation this was achieved when she defeated Molly Rowley from the Swinford Club in mid-October.
The Rylane boxing coaches then made a calculated decision to enter Linda into the elite category in November.
This was the Holy Grail for Linda and the Rylane Boxing Club. She was an historic double champion coming on her 21st birthday. Her success was accordingly acknowledged by the judging panel and Linda Desmond was presented recently with her well-deserved award.
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