Wexford fighter hoping for active and successful year as first professional fight looms

A Wexford fighter is hoping for a successful 2024…

Wexford Muay Thai fighter, John McGee, is set to fight Limerick’s Sean English in Cork in less than two weeks time. The fight takes place in St Finnbar’s GAA Hall on April 7th.

We caught up with John to discuss his preparation for his upcoming fight, his plans for the year ahead, and his pathway to his first professional fight.

Muay Thai is growing across Ireland. For those of you that are unaware, it is a Thai martial art and full-contact combat sport that uses stand-up striking, sweeps, and various clinching techniques.

Although the sport is growing, there is only one Muay Thai gym in Wexford. John fights out of Valhalla, which is Wexford’s only Muay Thai and K-1 kickboxing gym, but one might question, where did it all start for John:

“I grew up boxing from the ripe age of 12 under the watchful eye of Dom Robinson and Eddie Bolger and I gained the Leinster heavyweight crown in my teenage years. My uncle Jack McGee was a very good heavyweight boxer who contested against some big names so I always wanted to do something similar for pride purposes,” he said.
“In 2018, I then started Thai Boxing under Tony Walsh at Valhalla when I first heard what Muay Thai was, and I never looked back since! Due to many factors including the pandemic, changing premises, etc. we haven’t had it easy by any stretch of the imagination, but we are constantly going from strength to strength regardless of whatever is thrown our way.”

With less than two weeks to go, preparation is going well for McGee and he is leaving no stone unturned.

“Training is going extremely well. My head coach Tony Walsh is one of the most intelligent men I know, he’s extremely attentive and his knowledge expands way beyond Muay Thai. From maintenance, recovery, fitness and repairing the body when it needs it. (As well as the wittiest jokes I’ve ever heard coming from the mouth of a human being!) He knows every one of his fighters inside out, when to push and when to pull physically and mentally. Preparation as a fighter is easy when you have so much trust in your coach, as you just have to be receptive to what they say and the rest all falls into place in due course.”
“I have a great team of sparring partners around me from a world-level pro fighter in Shazard Ponde, Tadhg English and Big Ben Murphy just to name a few, as well as sponging amazing knowledge from my other two coaches Eimear Codd & Rita Gabryte. It’s good to have many bodies to train with as each fighter no matter how experienced offers their challenges to deal with from round to round which sharpens you overall. Outside of the gym is just as important as inside when it comes to recovery, managing stress levels, eating right. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows as much as I’d love it to be, so I’m very thankful for my fiancée Beatrise for putting up with the odd bit of giving out I do when the aches kick in. I’m sure her and my mother’s ears feel like they are stress balls from time to time.”
John McGee in action.

It looks like it’s going to be a busy and active year for McGee. Along with his fight against Sean English in Cork, the Wexford-based fighter is also booked in to take on English-man Wayne O’Neill in Torquay in England. This will be John’s first professional Muay Thai fight.

On that same card, another Wexford native, Eimear Codd, will also be fighting as she takes on former opponent, Nash. Like with many fighters, the aim is to be active, to win, and to keep progressing. For McGee, he hopes to do the exact same.

“I am booked into my professional debut on May 26th, taking on another undefeated Englishman in Wayne O’Neill. I am privileged to share the main card with another one of my coaches and training partners Eimear Codd, one of Ireland’s most successful female professional fighters. She is rematching a previous opponent whom I had the pleasure of cornering against her, to which she won the Warrior Heart title back in November.”
“I plan on being as active as possible this year to make up for a 4-month stint off with the hand break (although we didn’t miss a session regardless, thankfully it’s the art of 8 limbs so I had 7 left to sharpen while we were side-lined!). On April 13th, I will also take on the UK #1 Heavyweight Joey Traynor, the undefeated British champ.”

John has multiple long-term goals, but he doesn’t want to get fixated on them. Like every good fighter, he’s taking it one step at a time:

“My dream for Muay Thai and fighting in general from a personal perspective is to show every day in and day out, and get that 1% better. I have many long-term goals but I never get fixated on one particular thing, as it’s easy to get a clouded judgment and forget about the tasks it takes to perform daily to get to said goals. From a bigger perspective, we have some big things in the pipeline at Valhalla Muay Thai which are going to be very exciting and I am extremely proud to give it everything I can to make us bigger and better in every way, changing lives around Wexford as much as we can.”

Although there is no doubt a lot of attention on John as he prepares for a whirlwind 2024 with fast-paced upcoming fights, the Wexford man is quick to point out that there has been a lot of success from the gym recently, highlighting how the gym possesses an array of talent – and in turn, champions.

“In the past few weeks alone we’ve had Rita Gabryte, one of our pro fighters win the well-deserved WMO Irish Muay Thai title at Bantamweight. We’ve had Shazard Ponde, another pro fighter, beating the current ISKA European K1 champion for the TMA pro title. Two huge achievements – they have set the bar high for the rest of us this year for sure,” he said.

With professional fighting, it’s hard to do without supportive sponsors. John is lucky that he has such supportive sponsors backing him. Some of his sponsors include IDOC Electrical, Marc Stafford Roofing & Carpentry, Molloy’s Bar in Fethard, and Scents and Sensibility in Waterford.

“My sponsors are fantastic, the appreciation cannot be summed up in words when people are willing to get behind you and support something important to you. People say fighting is a lonely sport, but it isn’t with the right team behind you, which goes beyond the fighters in the club. Everyone can add value, from being supportive on socials, down to sweeping the gym floors. It’s a huge clock with many moving parts.”

For those interested in heading to the fight in Cork, tickets can be purchased through John. Tickets cost €45 and can be bought directly from John McGee via Facebook.

“Tickets for my fight in Cork against Sean English can be purchased directly from me, general admission is €45. It is quite a stacked card with many big names, including my training partner Tadhg English. Unfortunately, we clash with Rita as she fights in Scotland, but anyone interested in her fight can check her Facebook page out for stream links, and updates,” he told us.

There will also be a show coming up in Wexford on June 29th, a show that John believes will be a sell-out:

“We also have our show in Wexford set for June 29th, which is sure to be a sell-out so keep your eyes peeled on our socials @ Valhalla Muay Thai Wexford for details of this over the next few weeks! Although we are the only gym in Wexford with several professional fighters, our doors are open for absolutely everybody, from people who want to improve general fitness, compete, or learn self-defense, there is not a person in the world our classes will not benefit in some way shape or form. We also have teenage classes, kids classes, and female classes. We are a big family unit and everyone gets together and lifts each other through everything,” John said.