Former world champion Barry McGuigan believes the possibility of professional boxers taking part in the Rio Olympics is “crazy”.

Irish Elite boxing will have two weeks less to prepare for April’s crucial Olympic qualifiers in Turkey.

After two intense European Elite tournaments this summer, the final count for Irish male boxing is three gold, one silver and two bronze medals and seven places secured for October’s World Elite Men’s Championships and Olympic qualifiers in Doha, Qatar.

The Bulgarian town of Samokov has been renowned for its iron-forging skills since the Middle Ages and when our elite boxers return from the European Elite Championships being held there this week the expectation is that they will do so having fashioned some precious metal of their own.

Irish head coach Billy Walsh hailed Adam “The Guard” Nolan after he dumped No. 1 seed Radzhab Butaev out of the European Elite Championships in Samokov, Bulgaria yesterday.

Olympic bronze medallist Michael Conlan admits adjusting from five rounds to three at the European Elite Championships in Bulgaria was difficult.

Ireland’s London 2012 bronze medallists Michael Conlan and Paddy Barnes secured quota places for the Rio 2016 Olympics after recording dramatic wins in the World Series of Boxing (WSB) in Venezuela on Saturday.

Maiquetia, the city in Venezuela where Paddy Barnes will tonight look to seal his place in next year’s Olympic Games, last made the news in 1999 when mudslides devastated the region and caused tens of thousands of casualties.

A win by either a unanimous or split decision, KO or TKO will qualify Paddy Barnes for his third successive Olympiad from his last World Series of Boxing (WSB) fights in Venezuela on April 18.

Boxing: Paddy Barnes eased to within two wins of qualifying for his third successive Olympics after the USA threw in the towel in Italy on Saturday night.

Ireland’s elite amateur boxers are to be catered for in a state-of-the-art training facility in the National Sports Campus.

Italia Thunder have drafted Ireland’s London 2012 bronze medallists Paddy Barnes and Michael Conlan into their squad for the 2015 World Series of Boxing (WSB) season.

There’s been little time to sit back and relax for newly appointed IABA CEO Fergal Carruth.

Billy Walsh hasn’t diluted his ambition of Ireland finishing top of the boxing medal table at the next Olympic Games despite the raft of changes which threaten to squeeze the number of qualifiers under his charge.

Katie Taylor’s hopes of entering the professional ring in the coming weeks while still retaining her ambition of claiming a gold medal at the 2016 Olympics have been dashed.

Irish Olympic gold medal winner Katie Taylor is hoping her dispute with the Irish Amateur Boxing Association is nearing a resolution.

There was an explosive start to last night’s Elite amateur boxing international between Ireland and France at the Rochestown Park Hotel in Cork, double bronze medallist Paddy Barnes leading out an Olympian one-two-three for the home side with a second-round stoppage of young light-flyweight Dylan Beccu, a stunning right hand right on the bell doing the damage.

Joe Ward and John Joe Nevin both scored victories in the World Series of Boxing (WSB) in London’s York Hall last night, with Michael Conlon losing the bout of the evening to his old rival Andrew Selby.

Life after London has been a curious mixture of mania outside the ring and calm inside it for Katie Taylor but that is all about to change for the Olympic champion who will return to action for the first time since the Games early next year.

London 2012 Olympic silver medallist John Joe Nevin has shelved plans to turn professional.

Assured of a bronze medal, John Joe Nevin will try to cash it in for silver, at least, this afternoon (2pm) when he meets the world’s number one bantamweight, Lazaro Alvarez, in the Olympic semi-finals at the ExCel.

Darren O’Neill has bittersweet memories of the medal ceremony at the Beijing Olympics when Kenneth Egan received his silver medal.

John Joe Nevin became the first Irish boxer to qualify for a medal fight at London 2012 with a masterful display at the ExCel yesterday when he outpointed Kanat Abutalipov (Kazakhstan) 15-10 for a place in Sunday night’s quarter-finals.

Following an impressive start to his second Olympic campaign on Saturday, bantamweight John Joe Nevin returns to the ExCel this afternoon (2pm) to take on Kanal Abutalipov (Kazakhstan) for a place in Sunday night’s quarter finals.

Beijing bronze medallist Paddy Barnes and fellow Belfast man Michael Conlan are just two wins away from a medal at the Olympic Games following yesterday’s draw which threw up some interesting pairings.

JOHN JOE NEVIN arrived back in Dublin last evening with a second bronze medal from the world boxing championships to add to his treasure chest back home in Mullingar and insisting his only regret was not making the final in Baku.

CON SHEEHAN (Clonmel BC),the defending champion, andthe new pretender to the throne, Tommy McCarthy (Oliver Plunkett, Belfast), served up the best performance of an action packed weekend when they met in the quarter finals of the heavyweight division at the Elite national boxing championships at the National Stadium on Saturday night.

IRISH boxing fans will see Ken Egan as they never saw him before when he lines out for Miami versus Los Angeles in World Series of Boxing (WSB) clash tonight.

GOING to school has never been more fun.