‘Judgement Day’ looms for women of action
Muay Thai, or Thai boxing as it’s also called, is known as one
of the most brutal stand-up sports, because it makes use of
all eight limbs to win the fight: Hands, feet, knees, and
elbows.
Originating in Thailand, where it’s an ancient combat system
deeply rooted within the culture, it has developed into a pure
sport, and its popularity has been on the rise in the last
couple of decades. Today, Muay Thai is a popular and
recognised sport worldwide, on the verge of getting on trial
for the Olympics.
While most people are used to the idea of two men squaring off
inside a boxing ring, not everybody is convinced that it’s a
place for women. In fact, it was only last year that women
were allowed to box in the Olympics, meaning Katie Taylor
overcame one more opponent on her way to gold — prejudice.
Boxing is still considered a masculine discipline, and its
brutal nature means it takes a special kind of woman to step
into the ring — and tonight there are two of those special
women entering the ring.
Kelly Creegan from Bridgestone Muay Thai in Dublin and Elaine
McElligott from Midleton Muay Thai in Cork are facing each
other three years after their first encounter, which Creegan
describes as “a big shock to us both”.
“I think it was the first time either of us had been hit
really hard,” she says.
“We beat the heads off each other for three rounds, it was
very close and could have gone either way, but Elaine took the
win.”
Since that novice fight, both fighters have developed, and
what might have started out as a hobby has turned into a
full-time job (besides their normal jobs) with gruelling
training camps as they get prepared for tonight’s battle.
It’s not just a rematch, but a title fight, and it’s the first
female A-class match on Irish ground. Both women are delighted
to be on the big fight card which, aside from matching some of
the country’s best male fighters against each other, also has
two of the biggest stars from Thailand as the main event.
While you may think it is a problem to be a woman in a sport
dominated by men, both women competitors will tell you
otherwise.
“It doesn’t feel any different for me. We are all a family in
our gym. We look out for each other and help each other out,
male or female, we are fighters and we all go through the same
thing,” says Creegan.
But she adds: “It can be hard and frustrating to get fights as
we [women] are the minority.”
While Creegan has been sure she wanted to fight since stepping
into the gym, McElligott didn’t come into the sport wanting to
be a fighter. Like many women, she started training at a later
age (28), as she wanted to stay fit and was looking for a new
way of training.
She says watching boxing with her mum, a big fan of the sport,
she never really understood “why someone would want to hit
someone else”.
But when the chance to take a fight came after about a year of
training, she jumped at it. “My coach at the time said there
is a girl looking for a fight in seven weeks and do you want
to try it. So I did the training, lost 7kg to make the weight,
and I won — it’s such a buzz to win, there’s no feeling like
it.”
Since then, McElligott had 12 more fights; 10 were wins.
Creegan, her opponent, is noted for seven wins and four
losses, but McElligott points out: “Winning isn’t always the
most important thing. I’ve come out of wins thinking ‘God that
was an awful fight’ or vice versa; I’ve had two losses but was
happy with my progress as a fighter.”
One thing is for sure, tonight’s fight will be a firecracker.
As Elaine points out: “Kelly and I have about the same amount
of experience, we’ve trained very hard and both want the win.
I think it will be just down to who wants it that bit more on
the night. I’m stronger than ever and I have a few new tricks
up my sleeve she won’t be expecting so we’ll see what happens.
I’m just excited to get in there and fight.”
Creegan is a woman of fewer words: “I’m feeling great and
really looking forward to this one.”
* Tania Presutti is a Danish Muay Thai fighter, freelance
journalist, and fitness professional. She holds titles in
various fight sports and worked as the commentator for the
show Fight Club on Eurosport Denmark.
Tickets are available on the door for €37. Doors open at
5.30pm and bouts begin at 6pm.
Age: 29
Fight record: 7 wins, 4 losses
Occupation: Credit card fraud analyst for Bank of Ireland
Training camp: Eight weeks, six days a week, twice a day. Running, sprints, Thai training, and strength and conditioning
Age: 33
Fight record: 11 wins, 2 losses. Won the Four Nation title earlier this year in UK
Occupation: Accounts in O’Connell Group in Glanmire, Co Cork
Training camp: 10 weeks: Once a day six days a week for the first five weeks; then in the last five weeks it was twice a day five or six days a week. Thai padwork, sparring and grappling, running, sprints, rowing, strength and conditioning classes with kettlebells, Vipr, TRX etc
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