Fighting Back!

DUBLIN boxer
Kenny Egan, who narrowly missed out on winning an Olympic gold medal, has
written a book detailing his struggle to reach the top of his sport and how a
spiral of self destruction almost destroyed his career.

Kenneth Egan
(29), from Clondalkin, who is one of the most talented and controversial boxers
of his generation, has just launched his new book entitled

‘Kenny Egan: My
Story’. The autobiography was written by sports writer and former Sunday
Tribune journalist, Ewan MacKenna.

Kenneth or

‘Kenny’ as he became known, started boxing at Neilstown Boxing Club, which was
based in the school Hall of St Peter and the Apostles School Hall when he was
just eight years of age.

He famously
captured a silver medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Undoubtedly the
high point of his sporting career, his brilliant achievement also signalled a
major turning point in his life.

In his honest
new autobiography he tells the tale of not only his gruelling and unlikely
journey to the top, but also the dramatic downward spiral that followed his
success in China.

Speaking to
Northside People last week Kenny said that since the 2008 Olympic Games he has
realised that winning the Olympic silver medal was a major achievement.

But he admitted
that at the time it was

“heartbreaking

? to lose in the final.

At the end of
the third round in the Olympic final between Egan and Chinese fighter, Xiaoping
Zhang, the judges did not award Egan points for a number of punches that he
cleanly landed. If these punches had been scored for Egan he would have been in
the lead.

However, he won
the hearts of the Irish nation in the dignified way in which he accepted the
crushing defeat.

“It was
heartbreaking,

? he admitted.

“I was so close. There were only four points in it
at the end. I dropped to my knees and it ended for me there. I couldn’t turn
back the clock and I wanted to stay in that ring forever. I trained for 18
years before I got into that final. That was 18 years of ups and downs and
knock backs and when I got into that ring and the final bell went I couldn’t
get it back.

“That Olympic
silver medal really means a lot more to me now. I know how hard it is to
qualify for the Olympic Games. It is only now that I am realising myself how
massive an achievement it is for me on a personal level.

?

After endearing
himself to the nation in the ring, the book chronicles how his new-found fame
brought him to the brink as drink-fuelled binges, womanising and reckless
decisions threatened to destroy his career, his legacy and his family.

After the hype
of the Olympics died down he felt there was a void in his life and he filled
the vacuum by drinking compulsively.

“I genuinely
think I have an addictive personality,

? he reflected.

“It was also that it went
from one extreme to the other. I came back and I felt myself being idle. I was
doing a lot of PR and stuff but after 5pm I was wondering what the hell do I do
now?

“I noticed
myself drinking more and more. I broke my mother’s heart and fell into the
house many a time. She was sick with worry for two years after the Olympics. I
was just like a mad man and I didn’t care about anyone else except myself. I
was selfish.

?

There have been
many highs and lows throughout his journey and every part of his character has
been challenged. But, he feels he has come out the other side a better person,
although he continues to battle with his demons on a daily basis.

“I knocked the
drinking on the head in August 2010 and I haven’t drank since,

? he revealed.

“People ask me if I am any happier now that I am off the drink. I don’t know if
I am or not. I just know that I can function, I can do my training on time, and
I can meet and speak to people.

?

Back on track
in his boxing career and still one of the country’s top athletes, the
29-year-old is now training in an attempt to reach the London 2012 Olympics
next summer.

“If I qualify
for London next year and get on the podium it would be an amazing achievement,

?
he stated.

“I would be the only Irish Olympian to win medals at two different
games. That is a target that I have set myself.

?