Pat Ryan thinking outside the box

The Bulgarian town of Samokov has been renowned for its iron-forging skills since the Middle Ages and when our elite boxers return from the European Elite Championships being held there this week the expectation is that they will do so having fashioned some precious metal of their own.

It is what they do.

We have long become accustomed to their excellence, but the eye-catching nature of Irish boxing’s shop window has rarely been matched by the jumbled fare hidden further inside the store. For the general public walking by, of course, that has never been an issue.