Gallagher aims to stay busy in world title hunt

Tysie Gallagher had her first professional fight in October 2021

Tysie Gallagher is hoping to fight again before the end of the year as she waits for another shot at a world title.

The British, Commonwealth and WBO international super-bantamweight champion improved her ring record to 10-2 with a points win over Ellie Hellewell last weekend.

Gallagher lost to Segolene Lefebvre in France by a majority verdict in November 2023 in her only previous world title opportunity, and accepts she may have to be patient for a second chance.

Londoner Ellie Scotney, who holds three of the belts, will fight Mayelli Flores for the undisputed title next month.

"There's been talk that I could potentially have a fight against Francesca Hennessey, which would be a great fight," Gallagher told BBC Three Counties Radio.

"But I want to be knocking on the door for world titles. They are tied up for a couple of months but once they're able to be fought for, I'm definitely going to be pushing for it because that's where I want to be.

"I want to be a world champion and I really believe am good enough and will be a world champion very soon.

"In the meantime, I do want to stay active so if there's fights like Fran Hennessey or Ramla Ali... whatever stands me in good stead really. I want to be out before Christmas again and then see what happens next year with the world title."

The fight against Hellewell was the first for Gallagher, from Luton, since her mother-in-law Diane Cleary was murdered in January.

"The only thing she would want me to do is carry on and chase my dreams," the 27-year-old said.

"She was the biggest supporter. Saturday night, she would have lost her voice like she did every single fight, screaming and shouting for me. I had her voice in my head the whole time."

As well as her ring career, Gallagher is also working for the Boxing Saves Lives charity in her home town, trying to help young people stay away from knife crime.

"If children aren't feeling confident, or they've got low self-esteem, they want to feel like they want to belong somewhere and sometimes in gangs, that's where you feel like you belong, but there's a lot of other places where you can belong and create a family, like boxing gyms or football clubs," she said.

She added: "I was the class clown. I always had my wits about me but I was easily led, easily distracted and if I wasn't in a boxing gym every night after school, where would I have been? What situations could I have got in?

"Boxing took me away from it all. Boxing has saved my life in so many ways and it has made me ready for tough situations in life."

Tysie Gallagher was speaking to BBC Three Counties Radio's Justin Dealey