Rossies' Lisa O'Rourke ready to rumble against Wexford

Lisa O'Rourke will swap boxing gloves for football gloves as she aims for Lidl National Football League glory in Birr tomorrow.

Less than two weeks ago, Roscommon player O’Rourke was joint-captain of the Irish team that travelled to Croatia for the European U-22 boxing championships, leading by example when she came away with the gold medal in the 70kg weight division.

In between, she travelled to Belfast for a training camp with the Irish elite boxing squad, and also made sure she was available to tog out for Castlerea St Kevin’s in their Roscommon Division 3 League match against Strokestown.

She has also played the majority of this season’s games for Castlerea Basketball club but they didn’t have a game last weekend.

Whether it’s in the ring or on the field, O’Rourke is not one for taking a backward step, or prioritising rest.

She makes no secret of the fact that her plan is to qualify to fight in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and to follow in the footsteps of her older sister, Aoife, by representing her country on the biggest stage of all.

But for as long as playing multiple sports is feasible, that’s what she plans to do.

While Roscommon were qualifying for their tilt against Wexford in the Division 3 final tomorrow, O’Rourke was preparing for her European semi-final bout against Israeli boxer Lia Pukkila.

Before the fight, she was single-minded in her focus. As soon as she stepped out of the ring, her thoughts turned to Parnell Park very quickly.

"I had a lot of texts from people saying congratulations and well done, but the one I really wanted to see was the one from Mam telling me that we had a league final to come, that the girls had beaten Kildare," she recalled.

"I’ll have a different type of fight on my hands to win