As Irish boxing considers what it is going to do without chief executive Fergal Carruth and chairman Ciarán Kirwan, who have both announced their resignations from the organisation, the sport should be delighted to know that former high-performance director, Bernard Dunne, is reported to be close to inking a deal with Indian boxing.
Showing once again how expert Ireland has become at exporting its talent to rival nations, Irish boxing fans may remember that Dunne resigned in May of this year as high-performance director of the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) after failing to resolve a conflict with his employers.
The former professional world champion issued a complaint in writing to the IABA in November of last year, alleging his position had been undermined by an unsigned “SWOT Analysis Position Paper”, claimed to have been written after a survey had been conducted on Irish boxing.
[ Unsigned document criticising Bernard Dunne ‘a disgrace’Opens in new window ]
[ Bernard Dunne asked to reconsider after leaving IABA roleOpens in new window ]
He considered the document to be highly damaging to his position and believed the intent of the letter – for which he was not consulted – was to discredit him in both a personal and professional capacity.
The document drew damaging and entirely unsubstantiated conclusions. John Treacy, the then chief executive of Sport Ireland, described it as having no merit, a conclusion with which Indian boxing would likely agree.
Reporting in the New Indian Express, Anmol Gurung explains that the former WBA super-bantamweight champion is favourite to fill the position of high-performance director after Swedish predecessor Santiago Nieva moved to Australian boxing.
“It is learnt that he’s [Dunne] close to finalising an agreement with the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the Boxing Federation of India (BFI). Like Nieva, Dunne, 42, is a young face and will be looking to pick up from where the former left off and help Indian pugilists get all the tools required to be a success at the 2024 Paris Olympics,” writes Gurung.
“If things go according to plan, Dunne could join as early as the beginning of next month. That could be ideal for the Indian boxers, who put up a creditable show during the recently-held Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
“The Indians finished second behind Northern Ireland in the overall standings with seven medals (three golds, one silver and three bronzes). Next year will be vital for the Paris aspirants as the Olympic qualifiers will be held. That is one reason why the federation and SAI are keen to bring in Dunne.”
Just as former Irish coach Billy Walsh felt that he had no alternative to leave Irish boxing after the London Olympics in 2012, claiming similar problems to those Dunne encountered, Ireland can now claim to have Irish coaches in leading positions in amateur boxing in the second and third most populous countries in the world.
At the end of 2016, after Ireland bombed out of the 2016 Olympics, Walsh was named the International Boxing Association (Aiba) world coach of the year. The Wexford native guided the US to three medals in Rio.
With Walsh in the USA corner, Nico Hernandez secured the first US men’s boxing medal (bronze) since 2008, while he also oversaw a gold medal for Claressa Shields and a silver for Shakur Stevenson. The USA, under Walsh, won four medals at the Tokyo Olympics last summer.
It was Walsh in the Irish corner in London when the country had its most successful Olympics in boxing with four medals including a lightweight gold from Katie Taylor and John Joe Nevin reaching the Olympic final. Michael Conlan and Paddy Barnes also finished with bronze medals
It was Walsh in Ireland’s corner at the World Championships in Doha shortly before he left for the USA, when Conlan became the first and only Irish men’s world amateur champion. Joe Ward and Michael O’Reilly also won medals.
It was Dunne who oversaw the Irish team in Tokyo last summer, where Kellie Harrington won the lightweight gold medal, the same one Taylor won in 2012 and welterweight Aidan Walsh won a bronze medal, while this year has also been extraordinarily successful.
Two Irish women became world champions, which was another first. In one of the greatest 30 minutes in Irish women’s sport, Amy Broadhurst and Lisa O’Rourke, who Dunne had in his pre Tokyo training camps, took ownership of the first night of finals at the Sinan Erdem Dome in Istanbul and made history.
The two, Broadhurst at 25-years-old and O’Rourke, who turned 20-years-old just days before her final and boxing in her first major championship, won unanimous and split decisions respectively to become world champions for the first time in their careers, as well as becoming $100,000 richer.
[ History made as Amy Broadhurst and Lisa O’Rourke both reach World finalsOpens in new window ]
In May Galway’s Gabriel Dossen won the gold medal at the men’s European Championships in Yerevan, Armenia, after defeating England’s Lewis Richardson in their 75kg final.
The 22-year-old, representing his country for the first time as a senior at a major international tournament, was awarded a unanimous decision in the middleweight showpiece. Bangor’s Dylan Eagleson also made the European final to win silver.
There are fine coaches in Irish boxing with Zaur Antia highly regarded around the world. But the loss of intellectual capital in Walsh and now Dunne has been an Irish sporting disgrace.
Two leaders, who did not want to leave, will now be coaching against the Irish team in the Olympic Games in Paris. Quite the unwanted legacy.
