Former Irish Rugby player Judy Bobbett sets new International goal

Judy Bobbett is ready to go from Irish rugby international to Irish boxing international.

The former Leinster and Ireland rugby cap and Meath GAA footballer proved one of the stories of one of the more storied National Elites of recent times.

The Liberty all-rounder won an Irish Elite title at the first time of asking, defeating Shauna Kearney at the home of Irish boxing to win the 81+kg crown in just her SECOND ever competitive fight.

Having raced her way to national success the Ashbourne Rugby coach has no intentions of taking her foot off the pedal. Bobbett wants to work her way into the High Performance and onto Team Ireland, she also wouldn’t be averse to representing her country at the European Games this summer.

“This time last year I was doing it for the craic and here I am [Elite Champion],” she says when speaking to Irish-boxing.com. “I’ve been chatting to Trevor [McMahon] and I would like to go more international with it. I know there are a lot of tough women to fight in the future but my goal would be to try get on the Irish team and go from there,” she adds before sharing her amazing boxing story.

“It’s only my second fight. I only started boxing last year. I went to one session in college. I was just doing it to get fit and I loved it. After one session I went and found a club in Bray. I texted Trevor in Liberty Boxing club and since then he’s been great with me.”

The 22-year-old has excelled in making the transition from team sport to a solo sport, although she doesn’t believe boxing quite deserves it’s ‘loneliest sport in the world’ tag.

“I used to play rugby and Gaelic, it’s very different being in a solo sport, but I have to have good people around me. I don’t think I’d have gotten this far if it wasn’t for my club and friends. Being in a team sport previously, you have around 30 or 40 people around you, everything in boxing comes down to yourself. I wouldn’t say it’s a selfish sport like others do but you do have to put yourself forward,” she continued before stressing she is done with field games.

“My rugby days are over, I stopped that at the age of 22. I enjoy coaching so I coach my local team in Ashbourne and they are all here tonight, so my playing days are over, but I’d like to take up coaching in the future.”

Discussing her final opponent, Bobbett suggests Saturday may just be the start of a rivalry.

“She is a good fighter I’m sure we’ll meet again.”