Ballyforan kickboxer Gary McDonnell celebrating his win at the Austrian Classics WAKO World Cup in Innsbruck, Austria, last month. Gary is pictured with national coaches Jon Mackey and Jim Upton.

South Roscommon kickboxer tops world rankings ahead of Dublin fight

Adrian Cusack

Published: Thu 6 Apr 2023, 2:06 PM

Last updated: Thu 6 Apr 2023, 2:49 PM

South Roscommon kickboxer Gary McDonnell will be in action on home soil for the first time in more than three years this Saturday, April 8, when he appears on a WAKO (World Association of Kickboxing Organisations) professional show in Dublin.

The 30-year-old Ballyforan man has made huge progress in his chosen sport internationally since he was last in action in Ireland just before the start of the pandemic in 2020.

Last month, he moved up to first place at 60kg in the WAKO world rankings after a gold medal success at the Austrian Classics WAKO World Cup in Innsbruck, Austria. This followed on from his gold medal win in Turkey at the WAKO European Championships last November.

Speaking to the Westmeath Independent on Friday last, Gary said he was looking forward to this weekend's contest in which he will face Troy Gannon, from the TMA club in Dublin.

"I'm just after selling a few more tickets for it today. Since 2020, every fight I've had has been overseas - in Norway, Spain, Hungary, Turkey, Austria. So this has been a long time coming," he said.

The bout will take place at the Irish Wheelchair Association facility in Clontarf, and the main event will see one of Gary's teammates, Damien Darker, fight for the WAKO professional European title against Emanuele Lulaj of Italy.

Gary explained that, in WAKO kickboxing, fighters can switch between amateur and pro contests and that the only real difference between the two was that professional fights were paid and didn't involve the use of foot pads or headguards.

The tournament in Austria in which Gary competed last month took place from March 16-19.

"Myself and Reza Rezaei (of Germany) got byes into the semi-finals due to being the highest-seeded fighters," Gary explained.

"I then faced and beat Aleksandr Petrovskij (Lithuania) in the semi-final, and then beat Henry MacPherson (Norway) in the final."

The wins were particularly satisfying as they came after a minor injury setback late last year.

"I actually pulled my hamstring at the Europeans (last November) and had to take six or seven weeks off," he explained.

"I only started back training in mid-January, when my hamstring had finally healed. I was a bit nervous jumping in (in Austria), because I wasn't sure if my fitness would be there, but I was happy with my performances."

Gary pictured after his success in Austria last month.

His move to the top of the world rankings is the product of a lot of dedication, training, and travel in recent years.

"Before Covid happened, I was ranked 50-something, and I literally just travelled and fought in all of the major competitions over the last three years, and kept beating top quality guys to keep moving up," he said.

"I just clicked and started to put all these wins together, started to take it more seriously, and within three years I've gotten to the top of the chain."

Gary said he was grateful to his club, Claremorris Kickboxing Club, for helping to ensure he had "top quality sparring" in the lead up to this weekend's fight in the capital.

He is planning a busy schedule for the rest of the year, with a World Cup event coming up in Hungary in June, an international training camp in Finland in July, a World Cup event in Italy in September, and then the World Championships in Portugal in November.