Players could benefit from new training

Irish boxing champion Cathal O'Grady believes some Meath footballers can improve their fitness levels in 2011 compared to what they achieved for this year's All-Ireland SFC series. The former professional boxer says that from what he saw of the Royal County's game against Kildare in the 2010 All-Ireland SFC quarter-final last summer “three or four players†had some way to go in terms of maximising their fitness levels. “They had a reasonably good year, but I don't think they didn't themselves justice against Kildare, a couple of the players weren't in the condition they might have been compared to the Kildare players. “I don't know where they were when they were playing championship football this year, but I reckon some could improve their conditioning. “That's not a bad thing, that's a good thing. If Seamus (McEnaney) came in and the players were all lean and mean I'm sure he'd be saying 'how am I going to improve these guys?'†Over the past few weeks O'Grady has been coaching the Meath players as they continue their preparations for the White Collar Boxing exhibition at Knightsbrook Hotel on Sunday 2nd January. “It's kind of ironic, a Kildare man teaching Meath men how to be tough,†he added with a laugh. O'Grady, who won 10 Irish titles during a sparkling amateur career also spent some time in the professional ranks before he was forced to retire at just 23 in 2001. These days O'Grady says he has , “re-invented himself†and organises boxing events and fitness programmes for organisations and groups around the country as part of the White Collar Boxing.ie enterprise he set up himself. Last Friday morning O'Grady had to dig his way out of his driveway close to Enfield as the harshest winter in years took a firm grip. The former professional boxer, who lives a few miles from Enfield just inside the Kildare border, had a gig in Drogheda that night and he was eager to get over to the Barbican Centre in the town to get things sorted. O'Grady says he brought the white collar boxing concept into the country in 2005 and has since organised in the region of “80 or 90 shows†since. While some training has to be done by the participants a White Collar Boxing event is usually fun-filled and aimed at improving morale. It allows those who may have thought they had the skills of a Barry McGuigan or Bernard Dunne to live out their dreams – at least for a night. And it's not just what happens inside the ring. “We spend a lot of time beforehand trying to make sure that everyone has a ring entrance with a song,†he said. “That they have a themed entrance, like the traditional boxer. They get to be this alter ego for a day.†O'Grady has worked with a host of GAA clubs and inter-county teams including Monaghan and Cavan. “What you're doing is bringing the benefits of boxing to different audiences. With Meath you're bringing the benefits of boxing to a group of footballers. “There's no better training than boxing. Every top athlete in the world from Tiger Woods to Derval O'Rourke have used boxing techniques to improve their fitness, I worked with Derval,†he said. “As footballers you're getting that fast hand, that mental toughness, physical strength. The boys (Meath footballers) are out on their feet at the boxing, they are two very different sports. I'm not trying to perfect a left hook or anything like that, we teach them the basics that the need to know and some of them get very good and want to learn more and more. These are an enthusiastic bunch as well. There's not stopping them. It's great to see it. The work they are doing now is going to stand them in good stead later on.†White collar boxing is fast becoming one of the most popular fundraising exercises for GAA clubs with Trim/Dunderry recently staging an event that proved to be a huge success. The gig in Drogheda on Friday night was sold out and O'Grady was determined that everything was right – even if it meant a precarious journey from Enfield across a large swathe of snow-covered Leinster. O'Grady knows a thing or two about taking risks having spent three years as a professional boxer. After a glittering career in the amateur ranks during which he represented Ireland in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, O'Grady took the big step into the hard, unforgiving world of professional boxing. He was only 19 when he took part in the Atlanta Olympics as a heavyweight and it proved to be a real learning curve. The lessons he learned were to prove valuable later on. Hefir boxed three years as professional often in grimy halls around Britian. There were other nights when the got a taste of the big time in places such as the Wembley Arena. O'Grady boxed in 19 pro fights, lost two and looked to be on the cusp of making a real impact in the sport before he was forced to hand in his gloves. A routine health check revealed a problem in an artery in his head and he was forced to retire at just 23. “I won 10 Irish titles and I was never beaten by another Irishman which is a decent enough haul,†he added. “I don't think I did myself justice. At that weight fighters mature much later. It's one of these things, but professional boxing is a tough old game . “I was lucky in that I have a lovely wife and child. The decision to retire was made for me by the British Boxing Board of Control and the Irish boxing authorities, they wouldn't grant me a licence.†He admits he was lucky to get out of boxing without a serious injury and any long-term damage to his health although he didn't feel that at the time. It was the British Boxing Board of Control, he adds, who introduced what are called MRA scans that discovered a problem which forced him to hang up the gloves. “At the time I didn't think I was lucky, but at the time it's hard to step back and take a good long look say, well this is the best thing that happened for me and my family.†When he did retire O'Grady could hardly imagine that he would be involved in helping to toughen up Meath footballers for a boxing exhibition. Yet here he is doing his bit to ensure they will be as fit as they can be when Championship 2011 comes rolling around.