Billy Walsh keeps eyes on the prize as fighting Irish take on worlds
Overall, the draw for the tournament was relatively kind to the seven-man Irish team, with Portlaoise middleweight Michael O’Reilly expected to have the toughest opening outing, but a hectic session is in store tonight.
O’Reilly meets Ukraine’s Valerii Kharlamov, Wexford light-welterweight Walsh (nephew of Billy) takes on Luis Dian Arcon of Venezuela, while Belfast light-flyweight Irvine goes in against Nico Hernandez of the USA.
Such a fixture list dismisses any idea of Team Ireland easing their way into the tournament at the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, but Wexford native Walsh is by now well used to such demanding arrangements.
The 52-year-old stresses that he “doesn’t want to take the limelight away” from his fighters but the uncertainty surrounding his status as Irish head coach cast a shadow over Irish boxing in recent weeks.
A rumoured approach by the USA over a women’s coaching role led to speculation that Walsh would be on the move, but he has maintained his focus on helping the High Performance Unit to continue to deliver medals.
“There’s no talk about it. The guys were very on edge when it all broke out, but I just reassured them that we were going to Doha, we’d give it our all and we’ll see where it goes,” explained Walsh when quizzed on his future.
“We’ll talk about my situation after it. It’s ongoing so I can’t really speak about it until after this [competition] is over and I don’t want to take the limelight away from anyone out here and how they’re going to perform.”
If the prospect of elusive world medals was not enough incentive to perform, Ireland’s boxers also have the added incentive of Olympic qualification to chase in Doha.
Team captain Michael Conlan is already qualified for the Rio Games next year thanks to his success in the World Series of Boxing, but the remaining six are all in the hunt for places.
Four of them – Michael O’Reilly, Dean Walsh (nephew) of Billy), Adam Nolan and Seán McComb – need a top-three finish to book their flight to Rio. Meanwhile, Joe Ward and Brendan Irvine must reach the finals of their respective weight classes.
It is a major challenge at a tournament where Ireland has only ever had one male finalist in the past, with Jason Quigley’s silver medal march back in 2013 the sole appearance of an Irishman in a decider.
“It’s the medal everyone wants - this is the hardest competition in the world,” insisted Walsh on the challenge at hand.
“Everybody here has had to qualify through a tough qualifying process. Some of the continents - the likes of the Americas - have only five qualifying places [per weight] so you have to be good quality if you’re making that.
“The American national team only have four boxers here, which is amazing, because we have seven.
“There’s very little scope for an easy draw, but we know we can mix with any of them.” Favourite to medal is Conlan, who is looking to make history by becoming the first Irish boxer to win medals at the World, European and Commonwealth Championships, with the team captain slated at 7/4 by the books to claim gold at 56kg.
The Belfast bantamwieght won’t be in action until Thursday, however, as he has received a bye thanks to his No 3 seeding at bantamweight, while Ward (the No 4 light-heavyweight seed) isn’t out until Friday.
As Walsh succinctly puts it, “It’s all about performing and peaking at the right time now.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
