Boxer dedicates fight to murdered mother-in-law

Tysie Gallagher was once a promising young footballer with Luton Town

Warning: This article contains references to murder and domestic violence

"This whole year has been dark for my family, so if that one night can bring some light to them, that will make my year."

They are the words of boxer Tysie Gallagher, who is now dedicating her ring career to her mother-in-law Diane Cleary, who was murdered in January.

The 27-year-old from Luton will step between the ropes for the first time in 12 months on Saturday to defend her British, Commonwealth and WBO international super-bantamweight titles against unbeaten Ellie Hellewell.

The fight will take place at the Park Community Arena in Sheffield, just nine miles from Hellewell's home town of Rotherham.

But after the year she has experienced, Gallagher - a professional since 2021 - has every possible incentive to make it a winning return.

"I've got a lot to prove to myself and this is more than just a fight for me. I'll be very proud of myself once I finish getting my hand raised with a win. No-one understands what it took for me to be here ready to fight," she told BBC Look East.

Tysie Gallagher (right) lands a right to Stevi Levy during her successful title defence in May 2024

Gallagher had been due to defend her titles against Ebonie Jones in February, but the fight was postponed following the death of Ms Cleary, 46, who was killed by her daughter's ex-partner in a domestic dispute in Luton in January.

It was rescheduled for May but as things turned out, there would be no fight at all after challenger Jones failed to make the weight.

Now, though, some of the stress of this year has been lifted from Gallagher's shoulders after her mother-in-law's killer Jacob Clark, 25, was jailed for life earlier this month after pleading guilty to murder.

Gallagher sees boxing as an "escape" from everything else that is going on her life.

"Only boxers understand what you go through every single day and the challenges you face in that ring - there's nowhere to hide and nowhere to run, it's just you and you've got to figure it out.

"You take that into the outside world, from having boxing I feel I can deal with high levels of stress or chaos or anything going on, I feel I can deal with it a lot better because I box," she said.

Despite that, Gallagher - who took up the sport at the age of 10, around the same time she was diagnosed with ADHD - acknowledges that Ms Cleary, the grandmother of her seven-year-old daughter, is never far from her thoughts.

"It's been very hard to deal with and the only thing that's helped me get through is boxing," she said.

"There's been days when I didn't want to get out of bed, I could quite easily have locked my door and shut off the world and if it wasn't for my coaches expecting me to turn up every day, I wouldn't have.

"I'm grateful I've got good people like that that actually get me out of bed in the mornings and remind me what I've got to go and do.

"I've got to go and do it for my mother-in-law, that's just in the back of my head constantly, every day, every training session, every run, every hardship, I'm doing it for her because I know how proud she'd be."

Gallagher said victory over Hellewell would "mean the world" and her daughter will be there to watch the fight.

"When I'm in the ring, in the gym, obviously I'm a fighter, I've got my fight head on - but it's a great balance, it really keeps me really grounded.

"When I'm with her I'm a normal mum. It's a good distraction as well, it's not all just fight, fight, fight. I need a mix of both."

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