It was announced last Friday, July 4, that Joe Gallagher will be awarded a British Citizen Award (BCA) for his contribution to society.
Successful and prolific, Gallagher has cemented his place as one of the greatest British boxing trainers in history over the course of the last 15 years. In the UK, he has twice been named the Boxing News Trainer of the Year and he picked up the same honor from The Ring in 2015. The affable and passionate Gallagher, a true mentor of champions, was shocked to be diagnosed with Stage 4 bowel and liver cancer in November last year. Regardless, he has continued to train his boxing stable, that includes Lawrence Okolie, Callum Johnson, Jack Massey, Zelfa Barrett, Natasha Jonas, and many more, whilst receiving chemotherapy.
The inspirational coach has not just been recognized for his work in professional boxing, but for his work with young amateurs at the Joe Gallagher Academy in Warrington, England. Gallagher opened the academy back in 2018 with the aim of helping young boxers reach their potential. The academy combines world class training with full-time education and helps young boxers not only improve their skills, but also set them up with qualifications should boxing not work out.
Gallagher spoke to BoxingScene about hearing the news that he would be rewarded for his work by receiving the BCA at the Palace of Westminster in London later this year.
“Obviously, there was a public announcement on Friday when it went out and I'd sort of been given heads up just a little bit before that,” Gallagher said. “I said to someone the other day, I feel embarrassed a little bit. It's like, ‘Oh, well done, well done’. I’ve not won anything. It’s just being recognised for the work that I've done in sport. It is what it is. My mum's happy, and my kids are happy, and my family's happy, and it's good for them.
“I'm going to bring the kids to the event, and I'm going to get awarded the medal. I still find it hard a little bit to talk about it really. I don't know what to say or whatever, but it's very nice to be recognized for the work that I've done with amateur boxing, professional boxing and the work that I'm doing with the academy, with the kids there.
“The academy is absolutely flying at the moment,” he continued. “We've got kids on there – Odel Kamara, he's boxing for Team GB. He came through it. Bradley Rea came through the academy and won the European title. Ella Thompson's just gone up to GB level. She's representing GB. Liv Hussey as well. So, we've had Conor Tudsbury, Zac Miller, Michael Gomez Jnr. We've had so many kids coming through the academy now. Yeah, a lot of people don't really see all the grassroots work that we're doing with Tony Challinor and Elliot Dillon over there at Warrington Youth Zone.”
Gallagher has led fighters such as Anthony Crolla, Scott Quigg, Jonas, and Callum and Liam Smith to world championships but his desire to ensure youngsters develop and better themselves is just as important to the 56-year-old. The academy, which is run by the decorated amateur boxing coaches Challinor and Dillon, has allowed fighters like Kamara, one of Team GB’s finest talents, to practice the sweet science under the right guidance and gives them a clear route to the Great Britain boxing squad.
“I've always wanted to give something back,” said Gallagher of the academy. “Obviously, being part of the DiSE [Diploma in Sporting Excellence] programme and part of England Boxing, we have the North West pathway. To see the kids coming through the academy and then being recognized by England Boxing, and then being brought up for trials at Sheffield [English Institute of Sport], and then getting selected to box for England, and then selected for GB... Everyone can have an academy, but it's like having an England [football association] academy.
“They're the academies where England pays attention to and we're very fortunate that our academy is part of the England Boxing set up and part of the pathway. So everyone's got academies at the moment, but we're very fortunate and blessed that we're part of seven academies around the country that's part of England Boxing.”
The reality of boxing is not everyone makes it, and very few earn enough money to ensure that they never have to work once their boxing careers are over. So many fighters find themselves coming out of retirement because boxing is all they know. The Joe Gallagher Academy ensures that when young boxers join – including this writer back in 2018 – they are given an education and qualifications to channel their passion into other areas of the sport they love.
“It’s not just an education but also an outlet, whether [students] want to go into sports media, or sports science, or S&C,” Gallagher explained. “Ellie Hibbert, she went into the mental health side of it. Do you know what I mean? It just broadens the horizons. We've been featured on Channel 4 on Driving Forces with Rosemary Reid. It's very good for the kids, for the opportunity, because boxing, sometimes not everyone can make it, but there's other avenues in boxing or in that sporting field that they can get involved in. It’s good to see that some of them have taken that path.
“Only 1 per cent, 3 per cent [make enough money in boxing], but yeah, as you know, there's fighters out there, I had three fighters [boxing at] the weekend and some of them are having to sell tickets, pay for their opponent, pay for the hotels, pay for the flights. Then when it comes to it, the promoters take a cut, there's not much left for the fighters, do you know what I mean? They've sold all the tickets, so it's a really hard sport.”
Any young boxer aged 16-19 who wishes to join or know more about the academy can reach out to the Joe Gallagher Academy’s Instagram account @thejoegallagheracademy.
