Egan’s apology for no-show blames pressures of fame

OLYMPIC silver medallist Kenny Egan has apologised for his failure to fight for the Irish amateur boxing team last Friday, citing his inability to handle his new-found celebrity status as the reason.

The Neilstown fighter sparked a media frenzy when it was revealed he had flown to New York to escape the media intrusion into his private life.

In a statement issued on his behalf yesterday, Egan apologised to his Irish boxing team-mates, coaches and support staff for his no- show.

Egan’s struggle to deal with his celebrity status since returning from Beijing was given as the reason for his decision to leave the country.

“Kenny knows he has largely fed the media commentary and wishes to hold his hands up and again apologise to all involved. He has found dealing with the success and the new-found fame it brings very challenging.

“He says himself that he hasn’t handled it appropriately and put himself out there in celebrity world and got caught up in it.”

Egan also apologised to his mother and the rest of his family for the media attention his success has brought on them.

The statement also confirmed that Egan will not now fight on the undercard of Bernard Dunne’s world title fight at the O2 on March 21. It said that the Olympic silver medallist was not in the right condition to compete at this point.

Former publicist Liam Gaskin said he would not be representing Egan commercially for the foreseeable future as the Irish Sports Council was taking the fighter under its wings.

“He’s going to refocus purely and simply on nothing other than boxing,” said Mr Gaskin. “Because A, that’s what he wants to do; B, it’s what we all want him to do; and C, it’s what’s best for him.”

Since his return from the Beijing Games, Egan has been frequently pictured on the social scene in many of the tabloid newspapers.

The Neilstown fighter is believed to have become increasingly annoyed with the media intrusion into aspects of his private life.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio One last week, Egan’s mother Maura said the last thing he said to her before he left last Friday was “I have no life” after seeing a story about himself in a tabloid newspaper.

The article referred to him as a “skirt-chasing slugger” next to a number of photographs showing Egan in a crowded Dublin pub.

Speaking of her son’s rise to national sporting celebrity, Maura said: “Everywhere he goes, there is a photograph there, there is a camera there and then the next day he gets stressed about it again. And he puts his hand out to be slapped by going to those places.”