Walsh left ‘shattered’ as O’Rourke lands top job

BILLY WALSH, the face of Irish boxing in recent years, was yesterday considering his future as Head Coach after failing to nail down the position of Director of High Performance.

In a surprise decision that sent shockwaves throughout Irish sport, Walsh lost out to Dominic O’Rourke, President of the IABA, in his bid to replace his close associate, Gary Keegan, who parted company with the IABA after the Beijing Olympics and now heads up the Institute of Sport.

“Of course I’m disappointed,” he said. “I have been with High Performance for seven years and I have been doing the job of the High Performance Director for the past 20 months without any payment for it.”