Olympic call rests with me, declares Zaur Antia

Zaur Antia insists he will only make a call on his team for the final ‘amateur’ Olympic boxing qualifier after he assesses the attitude and form of his squad as a selection storm continues to brew.

While the recent call to allow professional boxers into the Rio Olympic Games has attracted much attention, the change will not have any impact on the Irish team as interim head coach Antia will continue to work solely with members of the existing High Performance panel.

Professionals will be able to compete in an Olympic qualifier in Venezuela next month, but the last qualifier for amateur boxers begins in Baku, Azerbaijan on Tuesday week (June 14). Antia yesterday travelled with his squad and fellow coaches John Conlan and Eddie Bolger to Azerbaijan for a pre-tournament training camp where he will make a final call on who fights in the Baku qualifier.