Boxing: Warring parties likely to come face-to-face in chairman row

A meeting of the Irish Athletic Boxing Association’s (IABA) Board of Directors on Wednesday seems likely to lead to a face-to-face stand-off between the sport’s bickering parties.

Waterford’s David O’Brien was ratified as chairman of the association by the IABA’s Central Council last Saturday. However, Central Council’s support of O’Brien is in direct contravention to the stance of a contingent of IABA’s Board of Directors, who continue to support Joe Christle as chairman.

“I was overwhelmingly endorsed by the Central Council,” said O’Brien yesterday. “We agreed that we wouldn’t make any [further] comments until after Wednesday night. Wednesday night is the first meeting of the Board of Directors [since Central Council’s decision] and it will be chaired by myself,” claimed the Waterford man.