Neil Gough

Neil Gough is a former 8 x Irish Elite champion from County Waterford and is widely regarded as one of the greatest amateur boxers Ireland has ever produced. He talks about his early years at St. Paul's ABC under his hugely influential coach, John Finn. We chat about his early amateur career and his competitive rivalry with Eddie Fisher during his Intermediate years.

We then go through his amazing record of 11 straight Irish senior finals against quality opposition including, Eamonn Magee, Neil Sinclair, Eddie Fisher, Francis Barrett and James Moore amongst others. There were numerous World and European championship appearances including a fantastic run to the quarter finals of the 1997 World Championships in Budapest when he would lose to 2 x Olympic Gold medalist Oleg Saitov. This run would place Neil as world number 5 in at the time.

Neil also opens up about his frustration at failing to reach 3 consecutive Olympic Games after falling just short at various qualifiers. There are also stories about meeting boxing legends, Muhammad Ali and Evander Holyfield thrown in there as well. Finally, we find out how Neil is still involved in amateur boxing in Waterford to this very day. Neil is a proper gentleman and it is a real pleasure sharing his story.