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.

AIBA Professional Boxing (APB) chiefs fear losing out on five top Irish boxers — after they failed to sign up John Joe Nevin.

Paddy Barnes vented his frustration about the changes to the head gear rule after yesterday’s quarter-final defeat at the World Elite Championships in Kazakhstan.

Joe Ward and Jason Quigley have both secured medals at the World Championships in Kazakhstan today.

Five Irish boxers will each be fighting for at least a bronze medal at the AIBA World Elite Men’s Championships in Kazakhstan today.

Ireland's boxers continue to impress at the World Championships in Kazakhstan.

Irish boxer Tommy McCarthy will be hoping to join his team-mates Michael Conlan and Jason Quigley in the quarter-finals of the World Championship when he steps back into the ring later this hour.

Bantamweight Michael Conlan is through to the quarter-finals of the World Championships in Kazakstan following his win over Brian Gonzalez.

Joe Ward could meet Russia’s Nikita Ivanov in a repeat of their European final in the last-eight of the AIBA World Elite Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Two-time Olympic medallist Paddy Barnes edged a step closer to the medals at the AIBA World Elite Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan yesterday.

Paddy Barnes has won his Light welterweight clash at the World Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Irish welterweight Adam Nolan controversially crashed out of the AIBA World Elite Championships at the last-64 stage despite ending up with more points than his opponent yesterday.

Tommy McCarthy got Ireland’s World Elite Championships campaign underway with a unanimous decision over Nikolay Mutavski in Kazakhstan yesterday.

Irish head coach Billy Walsh was “relatively happy” with yesterday’s draw for the AIBA World Men’s Elite Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

John Joe Nevin’s absence from the Ireland boxing squad for next month’s World Championships in Kazakhstan has left the nation without a representative in the bantamweight slot.

London 2012 silver and bronze medallists, John Joe Nevin, Paddy Barnes and Michael Conlan, together with Jason Quigley, are guaranteed at least bronze medals at the European Elite Championships in Minsk, Belarus.

Joe Ward hobbled out of the European Championships following a freak injury against Polish light heavyweight Matrusz Tryc in Minsk, Belarus yesterday.

Even among all the Olympians and multiple champions one man stood out at this year’s Elite Boxing Championships in the National Stadium — Wexford’s Adam Nolan.

Irish Elite champion Ross Hickey had an operation on his broken left forearm in the Czech Republic yesterday and is a major doubt for June’s European Championships in Belarus.

Irish Olympic silver medalist Ken Egan has announced his retirement from boxing.

A night of drama at the National Stadium last night in the 2013 Elite National Championships, the birth of a new legend, the end of another as the great light-heavyweight Kenneth Egan, seeking a record 11th title in a record 13 consecutive final appearances, was forced to give way for the third year in succession to the more powerful teenager, Joe Ward.

This year’s Elite national boxing championships are only at semi-final stage but already we know that five titles will change hands this year.

Drama and disappointment at the opening weekend of the Elite National Boxing Championships at the National Stadium last night, three more champions losing their titles even before a punch was thrown.

John Joe Nevin will be bidding for Ireland’s first medal at the London Games when he climbs into the ring tomorrow night (8.45pm) to touch gloves with the teak tough Mexican bantamweight Oscar Valdez.

Adam Nolan, with Olympic qualification secured, rounded off a memorable week with the gold medal around his neck after beating the teak tough German welterweight Patrick Wojcicki on countback at the Olympic qualifying tournament in Trabzon.

Paddy Barnes was fortunate he was qualified for the Olympics before facing Turkish light flyweight Ferhat Pehlivan in yesterday’s semi-final in Trabzon because he was beaten in a result that will rank right up there with the big hometown decisions — although not as bad as the Joe Ward fiasco which cost him his place in London 2012.

Adam Nolan has become the fifth Irish boxer to qualify for the London Olympics after his semi-final win over Romania’s Ionut Gheorghe in Trabzon, Turkey today.

The three remaining Irish boxers in the Olympic qualification tournament in Trabzon will be back in action in today’s semi-finals.

Beijing Olympic bronze medallist Paddy Barnes is through to his second Olympic Games and vowed to come back with a medal of “a better colour”, after defeating Stefan Caslarov (Romania) 17-9 in yesterday’s quarter-finals on a memorable day at the qualifiers in Trabzon where welterweight Adam Nolan and heavyweight Tommy McCarthy also kept their hopes alive with big wins.

Belfast's Tommy McCarthy has beaten Jozsef Daniel Darmos of Hungary to keep his hopes of qualifying for the London Olympics alive.

Paddy Barnes has sealed qualification to the London Olympics after coming through his qualifier in Turkey this evening.

David Oliver Joyce will not be going to London 2012 after losing his bout this afternoon at the qualifying tournament in Turkey.

Adam Nolan just can’t wait to touch gloves with Tamerlan Abdullayer (Azerbaijain) in Trabzon this evening.

Paddy Barnes joined David Oliver Joyce, Adam Nolan and Tommy McCarthy in the quarter-finals of the AIBA European Olympic qualifying event with an inside the distance win in Trabzon, Turkey yesterday.

Joe Ward’s defeat at the Olympic qualifying tournament stunned everyone but the local fans who arrived to cheer their hometown hero Bahram Muzaffer after the Turk had managed to extract an 18-15 victory from the judges.

European light-heavyweight champion Joe Ward got Ireland’s campaign off to a flying start on the opening day of the final Olympic qualifiers for European male boxers in Trabzon, Turkey yesterday.

Coach Billy Walsh last night admitted he could “not be happier” as the seven-man Irish boxing team touched down in Trabzon, Turkey yesterday ahead of the European Olympic qualifier which begins on Saturday.

With his second Elite senior championship medal safely stashed away alongside world championship youth, junior and European senior gold medals, Joe Ward’s quest for Olympic qualification continues when he joins the other champions at an intensive training regime under Billy Walsh at The Curragh.

KENNY EGAN booked his place on Irish team for the World Championships in Baku with a 13-5 victory over Antrim heavyweight Stephen Ward, in the finals of the box-off on Saturday.

KENNY EGAN took a major step towards the world championships and, ultimately, next year’s London Olympics when he outpointed Tommy McCarthy (Oliver Plunkett BC) in a heavyweight semi-final that had its share of controversy at last night’s box-offs at the National Stadium.

TOMMY McCARTHY’S coach Pat McAllister feels Kenny Egan might have made a mistake moving up to heavyweight for box-offs to select the Irish team for the world championships at the National Stadium.

THIS may have been a box-off to select the team for the world championships and the first opportunity to qualify for next year’s Olympic Games but none of the recent medallists were in sight when the tournament got under way last night at the National Stadium.

IRELAND’S boxers won three gold medals at the Feliks Stamm Multi-Nations in Warsaw yesterday.