The Rocky Road

Tommy Hyde is a 2-0 professional boxer and publican from Cork. As a kid he travelled the world with his fighter-managing father, Gary, posing for pics with boxing royalty such as Oscar De La Hoya, Gennady Golovkin, Amir Khan, Nonito Donaire, George Groves, Ricky Hatton, Andre Ward, Sergiy Kovalev, Freddie Roach, Shane Mosley, Antonio Margarito and Ken Buchanan, to name just a few. He’s t...

Jason Quigley is about to begin The Rebuild – and who better than Andy Lee to guide him back towards the top? After all, Lee knows all about The Rocky Road from world title contender to forgotten fighter. He put every drop of blood, sweat and tears into his career to earn himself a crack at the WBC world middleweight title in 2012 but it all went wrong on a sweltering summer night in El Paso again...

Eamonn O’Kane took part in the toughest era of Irish middleweights, going up against the likes of John Duddy, Darren Sutherland, Andy Lee and Jason Quigley on the domestic front while battling fighters such as George Groves, James DeGale and Andre Dirrell while representing Ireland. He won European bronze in 2008, joining modern greats Oleksandr Usyk and Vasyl Lomachenko as a medal winner at the t...

Damien McKenna and JP Kinsella were Ireland team-mates at the 2001 World Championships in Belfast who both came within a win of a medal. Multiple-times Irish champions, they are both now making waves as coaches of Holy Family Drogheda and Monkstown BC Dublin. The Louth club are celebrating four title wins at the 2023 National Elite Championships while the Dubs picked off two belts at the Olympic w...

Legendary ref Mickey Vann wound up his career as the third man in the ring with a stint in Ireland, reffing bouts such as Spike O’Sullivan v Anthony Fitzgerald (yikes) and Jamie Conlan v Junior Granados (yikes x 2), after passing the retirement age of 65 in Britain. But he’s been working with Irish fighters throughout his whole career, as the man in the middle for Sean Mannion’s only UK bout, Barr...

This week special guests Kenneth Egan and Jason Quigley join Kevin Byrne to discuss the greatest night of the year in Irish boxing – senior finals night (or, to give its official name, the IABA National Elite Championships). With 11 Elite titles between them, the lads remember the hurdles they had to jump before clinching their first one and consider the most shocking event they’ve seen at the tou...

"Ruthless" Ruth O'Sullivan, originally from Dublin, has three New York Golden Gloves titles to her name - all won at the boxing Mecca of Madison Square Garden. After some time away from the sport, she recently reconnected with the fight game, as she tells Kevin Byrne in this week's episode of The Rocky Road. O'Sullivan also tells of training at the world-famous Gleasons Gym, sparring Hilary S...

Paddy Donovan is the special guest for this week's show. He joins Kevin Byrne to discuss his pro career as he looks for his tenth successive victory this weekend. He also talks about the discrimination Travellers face on a daily basis and reflects on recent tragedies in his life. (If you have been affected by anything discussed on this podcast - please call The Samaritans on 116-123) Hosted on Aca...

Kieran Molloy joins Kevin Byrne for this week's show. The Galwayman talks about his amateur career and why he left for the paid ranks, his rivalry with Paddy Donovan and working with Top Rank and Michael Conlan in the pro game. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John McCormack grew up in Dublin’s inner city centre as the son of famous boxer Spike McCormack. From a large family, fighting was in his blood – but he only really discovered it when standing up to a bully at the Artane Industrial School, where he spent many of his teenage years. From there he moved to England and into the professional boxing scene, ultimately going on to fight for – and win – th...

Gerry Coyle is best known in Irish boxing as the figurehead of Geesala BC, from the ‘Land of the Salty Breeze’, and father of former world-rated contender Henry Coyle. But his own father, Henry Coyle, has a notable story too. As Gerry says, ‘my son Henry fought for Ireland with gloves after my dad Henry fought for Ireland with guns’. Gerry’s spent over 20 years preparing a new book entitled ‘Henry...

Craig O'Brien is the special guest for this week's show. He joins Kevin Byrne to discuss his rocky road in life to this point as he prepares to get back in the ring at the National Stadium next week. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why does Ireland produce the world’s greatest female boxers? From having an undisputed world champ in the pros to reigning Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth champions in the amateurs, the country is dominating in rings across the globe. Liam Brereton, who heads up the Edenderry All Female International Sparring Camp, talks to Kevin Byrne about how we got this far - and what’s next #KatieTa...

Recorded in Drogheda Boxing Club, Kevin Byrne is joined by Ciaran McIvor, Annmarie Griffin and Christina McMahon at the launch of the campaign by The Deirdre Gogarty Legacy Committee to have a statue erected in the town to honour her achievements in the ring. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Legendary Dublin ZooKeeper and former Irish amateur boxing champion Gerry Creighton joins Kevin Byrne and Simon Maguire to reflect on his extraordinary life. He chats about his early days in the ring and his life-long passion for protecting animals. Gerry is now the CEO of Global Elephant Care and his fight to protect the species continues. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informati...

Tommy McCarthy joins Kevin Byrne for this week's episode. The Belfast brawler talks about his new podcast, his journey into stand-up comedy and he looks ahead to his fight on the 24th September. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Russ Anber joins Kevin Byrne for this week's episode. Fresh from working Oleksandr Usyk's corner for his win over Anthony Joshua at the weekend - Anber talks us through his emotions as the fight went on and as the team waited for the scorecards to be read out. He also talks about working with Vasily Lomachenko and Michael Conlan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michael Conlan joins Kevin Byrne for this week's episode. The Belfast brawler is fresh off his victory over Miguel Marriaga where he admits the win helped him exorcise some demons. He also looks ahead to some blockbuster fights coming up - including Joshua-Usyk 2 and Canelo-GGG 3. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Damien Denny joins Kevin Byrne for this week's episode. He talks about his career inside the squared circle and how he ended up acting across from Daniel Day Lewis in the 1997 film, The Boxer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

30 years on from an unforgettable week in Irish sporting history - three members of Ireland's Olympic boxing team join Kevin Byrne to reflect on the glory days of Barcelona 92. Teammates Michael Carruth, Paul Griffin and Wayne McCullough look back at the ups and downs of their summer together in Spain. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rising Irish light-middleweight Callum Walsh is the special guest for this week's episode. He joins Kevin Byrne to discuss his switch to the pro ranks, working with legendary trainer Freddie Roach, his relationship with UFC boss Dana White and training with Tony Ferguson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feargal McCrory is the special guest for this week's episode. The undefeated boxer joins Kevin Byrne to talk about his career to date and how he hopes to kick on after a few years of inactivity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Paddy Doherty joins Kevin Byrne for this week's episode. The Donegal boxer talks about his journey in the sport which culminated in fighting on the same card as Muhammad Ali at Croke Park 50 years ago. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Legendary boxing referee Mickey Vann joins Kevin Byrne for this week's episode. He reflects on his early life and how he ended up moving from the circus to the squared circle. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gabriel Dossen joins Kevin Byrne and Joe Ward for this week's episode. The newly crowned European champion reflects on his journey to the top and what the future holds. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.