Maloney: ‘I may have let Olympic hero down’
The boxer, originally from Blanchardstown, is to be buried in St Finian’s cemetery in Navan on Monday following funeral Mass at St Mary’s Church in the town at 11am.
The Olympic bronze medallist took his own life in his flat in Bromley in London and was found by his manager Frank Maloney on Monday afternoon.
Speaking on a video posted on YouTube, Mr Maloney said he feared he may have let the boxer down.
“On a personal note with Darren, not only have I lost what I think was one of the best fighters I’d been given the chance to work with and one of the most talented fighters... I’ve lost someone who was maybe a bit closer to me than being just a boxer. And in some way, I may feel that I might have let him down. I’m sure he’s up there looking down at us now and, you know, his spirit will live with us for a long time,” he said.
Speaking to the press, Mr Sutherland’s trainer Brian Lawrence said neither he nor Frank Maloney were aware that the boxer might have been suffering from depression. “It’s come to us through back-door channels. That’s making me so angry right now. If we had been given a proper heads-up none of this would have happened,” he said.
However, the trainer said that if Sutherland had revealed such problems, it was unlikely he would have been offered a professional contract by Mr Maloney.
“He wouldn’t have been taken on and that’s why I think this was hidden. Darren was a smart lad and he would have known if the doctors said he had to take certain drugs, he couldn’t box,” said Mr Lawrence.
An inquest was opened and immediately adjourned at Croydon Coroner’s Court near Bromley on Thursday to allow the boxer’s family to bring his body home and make funeral arrangements.
His parents, who live in Navan, flew out to London on Thursday morning, but did not attend the hearing. The boxer’s body is reposing at his home in Navan today and from 12pm at Fitzsimons Funeral Home tomorrow.
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