Georgian genius Zaur Antia retires - what a legacy he has left in Irish boxing
Zaur Antia with Katie Taylor in 2012. Pic: Dan Sheridan, Inpho
Zaur Antia, the Georgian mastermind, has left the building. Retirement beckons almost 23 years after he first walked into Irish boxing’s basic but brilliant high-performance unit on Dublin’s South Circular Road with zero English and a limitless store of boxing knowledge.
He has lived and breathed his work, thrown and absorbed every punch with the countless boxers who came under his wing. There have been ten Olympic medals, 154 podium places across the major championships, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
It is an extraordinary body of work, so much of it unseen.
“What can I say? The memories, the experiences, everything is… It’s not easy to leave boxers when you have such good relationships, but I feel very well. I’m happy, because we had good history, we achieved good things.
“At the moment I am very happy because Irish national team – coaching team, boxers – develop very well. I see good future in them. I can say I’m happy. I start very well, I’m finishing very well. That’s all I can say.”
Antia may not be lost entirely to the sport here. The Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) has offered a consultancy role, and there is a book in him ready to get out, but he is looking forward to some downtime and some family time with his children and six grandkids.
If anyone deserves that, he does.
Ask him to share the high points and a handful of recognisable names begin to emerge before he stops himself in the realisation that to stay on that track would be to walk for miles and never make his destination.
He takes enormous pride in the fact that Ireland was the No.2 ranked country in the world at one point, and No.2 in Europe more than once, his thirst for achievement clear in the way he points out that they should have been No.1 on the continent at least once.
If one moment alone does stand out, then it is Roland Garros two summers ago when Kellie Harrington retained her Olympic lightweight title and Antia shouted out ‘ten’ to mark the number of Olympic podiums secured in his time with the programme.
“Remember when I danced at the Olympic Games? Kellie danced there, that was fantastic. I asked [fellow coach] Damian Kennedy to come out and join me. Next time, we will dance. I think so!
“But there are many highlights, not just one, and every day here when we were working something fantastic happened, something you can remember.”
That was one of the keys. Antia helped embed a daily culture of high performance that was unequalled in Irish Olympic sport. Every step, every word counted in his quest to construct the ‘universal boxers’ who could adapt to a fight as it unfolded.
Bernard Dunne, a former holder of boxing’s performance director role, once branded him a boxing genius. The roll call of others who have waxed lyrical about his influence would cover ten times over the inside cover of that book he fancies writing.
It was Cork businessman and boxing official Daniel O’Connell who ‘discovered’ Antia in his native city of Poti. When Antia recalled those early days on Wednesday, he remembered Billy Walsh explaining one thing and him thinking he had said the complete opposite.
"Everything changed in my life. Daniel met me 23 years ago and we're still best friends today as well, which is remarkable. He's a good Irishman and I knew the story of Ireland, I had read how strong a history Ireland has and how strong the Irish people are.
"But Daniel told me everything about it in Cork. I had no English but I watched movies. He told me everything and I tried to learn. I have already told him the news and he is happy as well that I am leaving in the right way.”
His English improved, bit by bit. His impact was instant. He brought a technical understanding of the fight game that was unparalleled and, while his reputation ballooned, he never gave in to the tempting offers to go and preach on other shores.
Bray had become his home but there were exceptionally tough times, too. Chief among them was the invasion of Georgia during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing when he had no word from his family for four days until relief came in a phone call.
Rio in 2016 was another trial, if one limited to a sporting sphere, as Michael O’Reilly failed an anti-doping test prior to the Games beginning and a hotly-tipped Irish team came home empty-handed after all sorts of controversial decisions and disappointments.
“We had achievements and difficult times as well. There wasn't always sunshine and rainbows, like in Rio, for example, but we became smarter and in the next Olympic Games we achieved more success.”
Antia worked in a high-performance programme that for most of those 23 years kept the dysfunction of its governing body mostly outside the gym door. That in itself was no small achievement given it eventually chewed up the likes of Garry Keegan, Walsh and Dunne.
“The main thing for me is I see Irish boxing has a great future because today Irish boxing, the federation, is all united with one purpose. That is the main key. Coaches are fantastic here as you know.
“What kills human development is ego. Here it is not existing. Everyone is focused for improvement and help each other. Healthy competition to find a solution. That’s what I see here, a fantastic federation, fantastic human beings.”
What a legacy he has built.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
