Katie Taylor has vowed to unify the titles versus Argentina’s Victoria La Leona (The Lioness) Bustos in New York next month

Bernard Dunne, the Irish Athletic Boxing Association’s high-performance director, is unperturbed about a supposed talent drain from Irish boxing. Instead, he insists a fresh team are already on course for great things, writes Brendan O’Brien.

Joe Ward’s quest for World Elite gold ended at the hands of a familiar foe in Hamburg, Germany on Saturday night, but the Westmeath southpaw reckons time is on his side.

At this point they know each other like the back of each other’s backhands.

Joe Ward is the only Irish boxer left standing at the AIBA World Elite Championships after cruising to within one win of a third successive medal at this level in Hamburg, Germany.

Zaur Antia claims he has not set a minimum medals tally for Team Ireland at the World Championships, insisting the squad will maintain their “one-fight-at-a-time” approach to the competition.

Newly crowned European Elite champion Joe Ward is being targeted by pro promoters in the countdown to the World Elite Championships which begin in Hamburg, Germany, on August 25.

Irish boxing could surpass its remarkable record at the last five European Championships in Kharkiv, Ukraine this weekend.

Sean McComb is putting his trust in Irish head coach Zaur Antia and team after sensationally beating Russia’s World Elite light-welter champion Vitaly Dunaystev to qualify for the World Championships from the European Championships in Kharkiv, Ukraine yesterday.

Hopes of reclaiming Ireland’s prominence in the boxing ring at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo are being undermined by a high performance system roundly criticised by the ‘Rio Review’, according to heavyweight Darren O’Neill.

Bernard Dunne is confident there are plenty of coaches good enough to fill the void in Irish boxing’s high performance unit after the loss of Eddie Bolger to Germany.

Mayfield teenager Thomas McCarthy has promised to learn from his first National Elite Championship final bout and “be back better”, while Rio Olympian Brendan Irvine has backed head coach Zaur Antia to get Irish boxing back on track.

By the time the final bell rings on her professional debut tonight, Katie Taylor hopes that talk of Rio will be firmly in her past.

Katie Taylor has backed Christina Desmond to become a future star following her European medal success.

It is being reported that Katie Taylor will fight twice as a professional before Christmas.

Michael O’Reilly has been no stranger to controversy in the build-up to the Rio Olympics.

Irish head coach Zaur Antia believes Michael O’Reilly and Dean Gardiner can take another step towards Olympic qualification tonight after Darren O’Neill’s dream of reaching a second Games ended yesterday.

After suffering two losses inside the space of six weeks, Katie Taylor agrees with the suggestion bouncing back to claim gold in Rio would be her greatest achievement yet.

Offaly welterweight Gráinne Walsh moved to within one win of becoming the only Irish boxer besides Katie Taylor to medal at the World Women’s Elite Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan yesterday.

Two-time Olympic bronze medallist Paddy Barnes has predicted that Ireland’s boxers will kick on from their exceptional four-medal performance in London four years ago and return from Rio later this year with an even bigger haul.

After a five-year unbeaten run, Katie Taylor tasted defeat for the eighth time yesterday afternoon. And so, the inevitable inquest will begin.

Irish interim head coach Zaur Antia believes that Olympic champion Katie Taylor will record a comprehensive third straight win over one of her biggest rivals today.