My Call to the Ring: A Memoir of a Girl Who Yearns to Box
Deirdre Gogarty, with Darrelyn Saloom
BookLocker.com, Inc., 2021
ISBN: 978-0-9907377-0-4
Ebook, 275 ppg.
For a person to recognize their calling in life, sometimes it can be as simple as watching something that they suddenly understand that they need to be a part of. That’s exactly what happens for Deirdre Gogarty, who is introduced to boxing while watching it on TV. She is so mesmerized by what she sees that she suddenly fixates on it. It is as though a switch has been flipped. She suddenly understands that boxing is her calling. Boxing is where she belongs.
She wastes no time in making boxing a part of her life. She asks her dad for an old bag she uses to create a homemade punching bag, but she is teased by family members when they catch her using it. Even so, in spite of the teasing and being told that girls don’t hit, she grows up fascinated and obsessed with boxing. She buys her first boxing gloves at age sixteen, and there begins the journey of this compelling memoir of a girl who grows up to be a boxer in My Call to the Ring: A Memoir of a Girl Who Yearns to Box by Deirdre Gogarty, with Darrelyn Saloom.
It was inspiring to read about how Deirdre stayed true to her desire to become a boxer. She is so set on it, in fact, that she starts watching boxers train at a gym near her dad’s business. The head trainer there notices her interest in boxing and takes a chance on training her. This, too, was inspiring to read. Deirdre is now 17 years old at this point, and the only girl in the whole gym who wants to box right alongside the guys. It was refreshing to see someone who looked past her sex to notice that a REAL fighter existed here, and that she needed to be taken seriously.
For a long time, Deirdre wanted to box like a professional. She had trained hard and practiced punching a bag at home. But when she gets a taste of the real thing in a sparring match, she gets a taste of the reality of boxing – getting hit in the head and stomach. That sort of thing. As I read this part of her story, I began to wonder if this would be her breaking point. If she changed her mind about boxing and decided to take up something else instead. I appreciated her coach’s support as she went through that first tough sparring match. He didn’t tell her to back down or quit; he gave her some pointers instead of how to get through a sparring match without losing consciousness.
It’s not just the many negative opinions she has to deal with about women in boxing but also the discrimination against female boxers in Ireland. Ireland forbids women in boxing, so she must deal with A LOT of rejections and denials in trying to score a fight. She does eventually have a first boxing match, even though it is not an official one, but her attempts to have an official boxing match are constantly met with refusals. It is inspiring to read about how she perseveres against this and keeps trying to get accepted for an official boxing match. However, because of the difficulty in getting any fights with other women boxers in Ireland, she sets her sights on boxing in the United States, where women’s boxing is not illegal. She spends months sending letters to various coaches in the U.S., hoping they will take her onboard, until one finally agrees to help her out. Here again I was impressed with her determination. I was also touched by how she is willing to leave her family and friends to go to another country just so she can have a chance to achieve her dream.
I really enjoyed reading about her experiences in the United States. She shares all of her ups and downs. I was amazed at how she was able to withstand so much during her training, but very impressed that she was so dedicated to it all the same. Her loyalty to her dream never wavers, no matter what she goes through. And she does go through a lot, even losing a boyfriend in Ireland who is fed up with her desire to return to the United States so that she can continue boxing. Boxing is definitely her passion and it shows in every chapter.
Another thing that I liked about this book is the detailed descriptions of the fights. I don’t know how the author was able to remember so much about each jab and hook that was thrown during a fight, but she apparently did. (Maybe she kept a journal during this time? I wonder.) I am not very familiar with the moves of boxing or fighting, though I do enjoy watching “the fights” and have watched many on TV. My exposure to watching women boxing on TV has been limited to seeing the movie Million Dollar Baby. But with the way the fights are described in this book, a familiarity with the sport does not seem to be required. I was never confused or lost as I read those passages in the book.
The last part of the book kept me hooked. Deirdre did not just want to be able to box in the United States; she wanted to become a champion. A title champion. With this goal firmly in place, she works hard to make it a reality. It is her dream to win a title belt, and she is willing to sacrifice everything in order to make this dream come true. As I read through the last chapters, I wondered if she would be successful. There are so many struggles she faces and a lot of let-downs, so I was pretty much hanging with suspense to find out what happened at the end of her story. The book does have a very satisfying ending and everything is wrapped up at the end really well.
My Call to the Ring is an inspirational and powerful story of a young woman giving her all to make a dream come true. A story with no holds barred and very detailed fight scenes, it is not only a story which can empower women who face discrimination in sports, but also serve as a reminder to never give up on our dream. It takes a lot to make a dream come true, and as long as you keep getting back up again, keep trying again, the chance of being the victor is possible.
Five stars
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
