Zaur Antia: ‘Boxing in Ireland can have an even bigger future’

Ten Irish boxers have qualified the Paris Games this week. It is a record-equalling team size. Not since 1960 have so many Irish boxers qualified.

READY: Aoife O'Rourke is ready for Paris. Picture: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

THERE is no shortage of stories to reflect the peculiar extremes occupied by Irish Olympic boxing over the past decade. Let’s take a recent offering by Kenneth Egan concerning the two to three second activity level and the shoe.

As Gary Keegan was building Irish boxing’s high performance programme from scratch, they identified an urgent need need for top-tier sparring. Expert coaches Billy Walsh and Zaur Antia developed a network of contacts and brought teams across Europe. The expansion of Ryanair meant roaming the continent was affordable on their limited budget, compared to expensive jaunts to other powerhouses like America or Cuba.