Gary Cully knows all about The Rocky Road at this stage. With massive momentum at his back, he went into 2023 certain that he was on the fast track to world title glory. And things got even better when he secured a co-headline slot on the Katie Taylor homecoming bill last May. But he watched Taylor’s fight with Chantelle Cameron from the back of an ambulance following a shock stoppage defeat to Mexico’s Jose Felix. Taylor picked herself up for the rematch with Cameron and ‘The Diva’ had to do the same, even more so, when big-time boxing returned to the 3Arena in Dublin in November. He opted to ..read more

The Rocky Road paid a visit to Moate, Co Westmeath for a conversation we've been waiting a few years to have. Joe Ward is one of the finest boxers ever to come out of Ireland and why wouldn't he be, when he comes from fighting stock? After all, his grandfather is no other than 'Big' Joe Joyce, AKA The Hulk, AKA The King of the Travellers, AKA - The Boss of All Men. He made his name as the bareknuckle champion of these islands but nowadays Big Joe is his grandson's biggest supporter and a keen advocate of boxing inside the ropes. In Part Two, we discuss Big Joe's days as a bareknuckle box ..read more

The Rocky Road paid a visit to Moate, Co Westmeath for a conversation we've been waiting a few years to have. Joe Ward is one of the finest boxers ever to come out of Ireland and why wouldn't he be, when he comes from fighting stock? After all, his grandfather is no other than 'Big' Joe Joyce, AKA The Hulk, AKA The King of the Travellers, AKA - The Boss of All Men. He made his name as the bareknuckle champion of these islands but nowadays Big Joe is his grandson's biggest supporter and a keen advocate of boxing inside the ropes. In Part One, we talk about Joe Ward's professional career a ..read more

Happy St Patrick's Day from The Rocky Road - and from Kevin McBride. The Clones Colossus is someone we've wanted to have on since the start and we finally made it happen in time for the annual wearing of the green. The man who finished Mike Tyson talks about the return of The Baddest Man on the Planet for his July 20 showdown with Jake Paul at Cowboys Stadium and their 2005 scrap that made McBride a big name around the world. We talk about his epic homecoming in Monaghan after he shocked the world, what he's up to now and we also introduce the 'new' Kevin McBride - his son Kevin, an accom ..read more

Kerry boxer Kevin Cronin, AKA The Kingdom Warrior, is feeling excited ahead of a double debut on Paddy's weekend. He's off to Dorchester, Mass, for his US bow, which is also the first outing of a deal he's signed with new promoters Conlan Boxing. Here, Kevin talks about his GAA background, working as a firefighter and The Rocky Road he's navigated through Irish boxing to get to this point. What was once the dream has now become a realistic ambition as he targets a homecoming bout at the INEC in Killarney later this year. And after that, one of the GAA stadiums in the Kingdom will do nicel ..read more

Spike O'Sullivan drops by the pod this week ahead of March madness. St Paddy's weekend is looking like one of Irish boxing's busiest ever with fighters in action from Boston to Brisbane via New York, San Francisco, Birmingham, Galway and Castlebar. That's where Spike will be taking part in his comeback bout as he kicks off The Last Dance chapter of his storied career. Here, he talks about the buzz of a dressing room before a fight - channeling nerves, getting the hands wrapped and waiting to clobber flesh and bone. He also talks about the rising stars of the scene, sartorial tips from the ..read more

Today’s guest, Luke Keeler, feels he has unfinished business in the ring - so last year he decided to embark on a comeback. From Ballyfermot in Dublin, he came up in one of the most competitive eras of Irish middleweight boxing in the amateurs. And he’s been a pro since 2013, culminating in a world title shot against Demetrious Andrade in 2020 – with a certain Jake Paul boxing on his undercard. With the world gripped by a pandemic, Keeler, a qualified engineer, returned to working life. But the boxing bug hadn’t gone away, you know. Last year he returned to training and had his first ..read more

This week’s guest Dee Walsh shocked the Irish boxing scene when he hung up his gloves aged just 26 back in 2015. At that stage he looked like a possible contender for world titles down the line. But don’t rule him out of the running for major championships – because Dee is proving to be an even better trainer than he was a fighter. It’s a huge month for his boxers as Conor Quinn, Padraig McCrory and Lee Reeves all headline separate shows from Belfast to Orlando to Dublin. He joined us on The Rocky Road last year as an insightful pundit in the lead-up to the Terence Crawford v Errol Spence figh ..read more

Welcome to the 150th episode of The Rocky Road boxing pod! Today's guest has been on the hitlist since we began. Thomas O’Toole is following in Seán Mannion’s footsteps as a Connemara man looking to make his way as a professional boxer in Boston. And the 6ft 3in southpaw puncher even had Rocky Ros Muc helping out in the corner when he made his pro debut back in 2021. Since then, the former Irish Elite champion has built his record to 8-0 and has recently announced a homecoming bout in Galway for March 16*. Here, the 26-year-old describes his own Rocky Road to this point – the amateur stru ..read more

Seamus McDonagh is the special guest for this week's epsiode. In Part 1, Seamus talks about learning to fight in Co Meath, boxing Barry McGuigan as a kid and moving across the pond to seek out the American Dream. While rising the ranks in boxing, Seamus was also finding time to further his education, work with the horses of Central Park and establish himself as a regular at one-too-many watering holes in the City that Never Sleeps... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information ..read more