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SHANKILL road born Andrea Hamilton came out in support of husband Gary Hamilton as he heads to France to defend his WKN Featherweight crown, writes William Bruce.
The Hamilton’s share the same passion for the sport of kickboxing as they both started training at the ProKick gym around the same time, eleven years ago. And now the pair found love in the most unlikeliest of places that led to marriage and a beautiful daughter, Paige, who is now 18 months old.
Andrea is one of a growing number of women that turned to kickboxing in search of mental and physical happiness which also found her a husband.
She said “Kickboxing is great for everyone of all ages, shapes and sizes. There are kids in my gym as young as five and most people are there to learn self-defence or gain fitness. Some progress to become fighters like Gary and myself.” She added “unfortunately I can’t be there when Gary defends his title. I think this is only the second fight I have missed. I know he will do really well and come home with his belt around his waist.”
The rest of the country are counting down to St Paddy’s Day and an excuse to party long and swim in the black stuff.
But champion Kickboxer and proud dad Hamilton, will defend his world featherweight title in France this Saturday night.
“This one means everything to me,” he said. “I wanted this defence to be a big Belfast show for Paddy’s night. My fans at home are just incredible. I’ve been champion for five years and it would have been the night of my life. But the promoters in France beat the purse on offer in Belfast and insisted I fight Bertrand Fleuret on his home ground and it’s made me mad. It’s made me determined to punish him for their decision. He might be European champion but he’s going Tou-lose on Saturday night.”
Hamilton’s coach Billy Murray – the former four-weight world champ who has guided Hamilton’s career for the last decade – is equally unimpressed by the insistence that Hamilton fights in France. But he is sure his man will use his experience to emerge triumphant.
“I wanted Gary to prove what he could really do in front of his home crowd,” he said. “Unfortunately the French promoters won on the purse bids and won the promotional rights to stage the fight in France. Gary is on the comeback trail this year even though he is world champion. Last year he only fought five times and he won four convincingly and drew one, ironically against the talented Fleuret.
“My difficulty as a coach was not making sure he trained enough and that he’s up for the fight, but to make sure we got the balance between training and rest right. I’ve never seen a fighter so hungry or focused. That is testament to his quality as a fighter and a man that he still has this so far into his career. And after the fight - Irish eyes will still be smiling.”

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