IABA chief says we can become Cubans of Europe

A leading Irish boxing official has predicted Ireland could have 10 boxers qualified for the Olympic Games in Rio in four years’ time.

The Irish Amateur Boxing Association’s (IABA) Director of Boxing said they were overwhelmed by the support at then ExCel Arena.

“We have six boxers in all here but, with a little bit of luck, we could have had more,” he said.

“We have two European champions at home, Joe Ward and Ray Moylette, and you know the hard luck stories with Joe and David Oliver Joyce and we have Eric Donovan, Ross Hickey and several others. It’s as difficult to win an Irish title as a European title at the moment.”

“As for Rio, I would like to think all these boxers will remain on but they are going to be pushed to the limit by a new generation of youngsters coming through.

“Last year we boxed China three times in Ireland and we beat them each time with a different team. That highlights the work being done with the pre-elite squad. That’s the talent we have at the moment.”

“Now we are reaping the benefits of what we did 10 years ago. It proves that the system is working.

“We have a lot of young lads coming through at the moment but it’s all dependent on funding. We need to secure enough funding to keep the teams going.

“We sent a team to the European championships last month and we got two silver medals — five lads beaten in the quarter-finals. A week after we sent a different team — same age group — to the Velos Cup and we boxed America, Russia number one, two and Germany teams and we were the second best team out there with our number two team.

“We hope to send a team of 18 boxers to the European schoolboy championships.”

He said Katie Taylor had taken support for boxing — not just women’s boxing — to a new level and plans are ongoing to develop the sport.

“We get good funding from the Irish Sports Council and we are grateful for that,” he said. “We are working on a Centre of Excellence in Limerick to serve the Munster region and we hope to have that open in October.

“We have similar plans for Connacht and we are also talking to the Sports Council in the North of Ireland about a similar facility for Ulster.”

IABA President Tommy Murphy recalled that once when asked on BBC TV what his plans for Irish boxing were he replied that they wanted to make Ireland the Cuba of Europe.

“That is still our ambition and we are getting there,” he said. “We want to be number one in Europe — the Cubans of Europe — and our system is working.”