Pádraig Hoare: Stain of Kinahan criminality taints Irish boxing 

Professional boxing in Ireland was also a victim of the Regency Hotel attack, never quite recovering

Disgustingly feted by professional boxing's biggest fightmakers, such as Bob Arum of Top Rank, Daniel Kinahan's reputation has been sportswashed in the years since the Regency Hotel nadir. File picture

Of the 35 precious Olympic medals claimed by titans of Irish sport going back to the first in 1928, some 18 of those have been won by men and women inside the loneliest and most unforgiving place in sport — the boxing ring.

From the silver in Helsinki for John McNally in 1952 to last year's gold medal in Tokyo for Kellie Harrington, the so-called 'sweet science' has brought this small island unbridled joy and pride in nearly every four-year cycle.