Boxing Greats: Ireland’s Five Greatest Fighters Of All-Time

Ireland has a rich history of producing world-class fighters, with many from the Emerald Isle going on to become huge stars in the sport of boxing and realising dream achievements in their respective careers. 

No matter if it’s from the north and south of Ireland, the country has always been involved in boxing at the top level and many combatants have secured massive success in the ring over the last 100 years and beyond. 

There are plenty of established Irish names from recent years to reach the pinnacle of prizefighting, so here are five of the best ever to lace up a pair of gloves from our own nation. 

5 – Katie Taylor 

Boxing has always been a male-dominated sport but the emergence of Katie Taylor in the professional game in recent years has seen the women’s sport surge and gather momentum and popularity. 

The Bray-born fighter has become a household name and is single-handedly pushing the female sport to the wider audience, following her efforts in the paid ranks.

Following a hugely successful amateur career, which saw her win an Olympic Gold medal at the 2012 Games, as well as five World Championships, Six European Championships and five European Union Championships. 

Since those days she has become a professional world champion in the lightweight division. The Irishwoman is unquestionably one of the greatest athletes to come from the Emerald Isle already. 

The highly-decorated Irishwoman will enter the ring as the massively odds-on 1/25 favourite with bet365 in the boxing betting to come out on top in her latest bout and continue to build on her ever-growing reputation. 

4 – Carl Frampton 

Next up is probably the number one fighter to ever come from Ireland, Carl Frampton. The Belfast native has achieved incredible success since bursting onto the pro scene as a promising talent back in 2009. 

The Tiger’s Bay brawler is now a two-weight world champion and has his eyes on becoming a third division title holder in near future, at this later stage of his already illustrious career. 

A loss to Josh Warrington last year hasn’t derailed his hopes of becoming a world champion once again and he looks set to continue his impressive career in 2019, after so many admirable feats already to date. 

3 – Steve Collins

Another all-time great to come from Ireland is none other than the legendary Steve Collins. The now-retired Dubliner is still recognised as the most successful Irish fighter in history, having reigned supreme during his career at both middleweight and super-middleweight. 

The Celtic Warrior earned many huge victories but he most famously overcame both British icons Chris Eubank Snr and Nigel Benn in his prime. Collins never once lost a world title in the ring and is held by many Irish fans as the best fighter to ever enter the ring. 

2 – Rinty Monaghan

John “Rinty” Monaghan was a flyweight world champion who has become immortalised in his home city of Belfast with a statue for his incredible career.

The legendary fighter reigned at a time when there was only one champion in each division, proving his superiority at the time. 

1 – Barry McGuigan

When you think of Irish fighters, many immediately think of Barry McGuigan. The Belfast hero was a huge success in his career, becoming featherweight world champion. 

His exploits during the height of ‘the Troubles’ across the country were also hugely effective, with the ‘Clones Cyclone’ being a hugely popular figure among all communities at the time.