Tough Olympic road ahead, says Walsh

Billy Walsh hasn’t diluted his ambition of Ireland finishing top of the boxing medal table at the next Olympic Games despite the raft of changes which threaten to squeeze the number of qualifiers under his charge.

Ireland finished fifth in the boxing ladder at London thanks to the efforts of Katie Taylor, John Joe Nevin, Paddy Barnes and Michael Conlon, but even reaching the 2016 Games will be a phenomenal achievement in itself.

Changes to the boxing landscape will see some qualification spots switch to the APB Pro Boxing circuit, which is run by the global amateur AIBA body, and the World Series of Boxing (WSB) in which amateur fighters may also compete.