The woman who paved the way for Katie Taylor

Katie Taylor looks to make history on Saturday night when she challenges Chantelle Cameron for the undisputed light-welterweight championship of the world at a sold out 3Arena.

The Bray boxer is a household name in Ireland whose path to becoming one of the biggest stars in the sport globally has been paved with Olympic and world title gold.

Taylor regularly cites Deirdre Gogarty as an inspiration for her own career, yet the Drogheda native's story isn’t widely known outside of boxing circles despite blazing a trail in the 90’s when boxing in Ireland was illegal for women.

"You could say the term you 'missed the boat’ but the boat wasn't even in the dock for me," Gogarty tells Katie Hannon in an in-depth interview on the latest episode of Upfront: The Podcast.

Deirdre Gogarty, the daughter of two dentists, became the first Irish woman to win a boxing world championship title, beating Bonnie Canino in Louisiana in 1997.

Back at home women were still banned from the sport and her success went unnoticed by many.

"I dreamed and my dream was to be able to represent Ireland. Sometimes I'm like, 'I wish that was me, I wish I had that opportunity.'"

Sport initially became a refuge for Gogarty from a rocky family life.

"I grew up in a difficult home and my mother suffered a lot from depression and probably bipolarism. She was very moody and unstable. My father was a drinker. They were wonderful people but it made life very unstable and unpredictable.

"I was born with this love of boxing. It took me out of all of that and into a different world. People in boxing are very open and honest and down to earth."

Gogarty's boxing coaches Pat McCormack and Beau Williford provided her with a reliable support network.

"They were very protective of me,