Deirdre Gogarty says she would have loved to have been born in Ireland at a time when women's boxing was being supported.

The 35-year-old former world featherweight champion from Drogheda had to emigrate to the US to pursue her career as a professional boxer in 1993.

Mohammad Ali's daughter Laila once said she was inspired to begin boxing after seeing Gogarty getting into the ring with Christy Martin on a card that was headlined by the Mike Tyson/Frank Bruno match in 1996. That bout has been described as the birth of modern women's boxing, with commentators claiming that it had more action and better boxing than the main event.

Gogarty lost that contest but claimed the Women's International Boxing Federation featherweight title the following year. She formally retired from boxing competition over a year ago, having won 18 of her 25 fights and drawn two of them.

By day, she is an accomplished graphic artist but by night she trains young boxers in the Louisiana gym of her trainer Beau Williford. He described her as being the "best technical scientific fighter in women's boxing history". Last year, she became the first woman to sit on the Louisiana State Boxing Commission.

"I couldn't box in Ireland," she says from her home in Lafayette. "I tried everything and a lot of people helped me but it was kind of hopeless. It's terrific that it has improved for young girls now. I've met Katie Taylor and she's really good so it's great to see her getting the respect she deserves."