Moments after Kellie Harrington had secured an Olympic bronze medal, which she later upgraded to gold, in Tokyo’s Kokugikan’s Arena in 2021, Zaur Antia broke his customary silence in the mixed zone.
“That’s nine medals now,” he said. Harrington made it 10 four years later by successfully defending her Olympic title at Roland Garros in Paris last year.
Since joining with the IABA’s high-performance unit in 2003, the Georgian-born coach has worked with eight Irish boxers as they won 10 Olympic medals, more than half the 18 boxing medals won by Irish fighters at the Olympics.
Probably the most successful coach of any Irish sport, Antia has been head of boxing since the controversial departure of Billy Walsh in 2015. This week, the godfather figure, who prefers to stay in the background, leads a team of 10 men and seven women to Liverpool for the first World Championships under the auspices of new governing body World Boxing.
After the disappointment of Paris, where only Harrington made it to the podium, Liverpool represents a chance to clean the slate and begin to look forward to Los Angeles in three years.
Talents need nurturing. They need more experience. They need more support. And then demand should be more, as well
Without Harrington, the chances of winning medals are lessened. But Antia is hopeful that with some new blood and a clutch of experienced boxers – not least three-time middleweight European champion Aoife O’Rourke and her sister Lisa, the 2022 light middleweight world champion – medals won’t be far away.
“I thought, last Olympic Games, we should have had more medals,” says Antia. “What happened there . . . we will try next time to improve those things. But we have good talent.
“Again, talents need nurturing. They need more experience. They need more support. And then demand should be more, as well. I don’t want to say what happened, how it happened. No excuses. Culture. Main thing is, we prepared very well.”
Ireland qualified 10 boxers for Paris, but a mixture of tough opponents and poor decisions saw nine fall out of the draw before the medal phase.
“We had 10 boxers qualify before. We had success in the Olympic Games, but we wanted more, of course,” says Antia.
“But it did not happen. You know, success has no limit. We always have to prove ourselves. I am thinking the future is very bright.”
This is the first time that the World Championships for men and women have been staged at the same time in the same venue. It makes for a hectic few weeks, with 500 male and female boxers and 60 federations represented.
Antia is joined by coaches Damian Kennedy, Lynne McEnery, Eoin Pluck, James Doyle and JP Delaney, as the possibility is high that several Irish fighters will be in the ring in the same session, and with two rings in use possibly at the same time.
“This is excellent. This is the first time it [World Boxing-organised event] has happened. Everything first time is exciting. We are ready,” says Antia.
“We trained for this. We worked hard for this. We are a very positive team. We had great sparring, about 15 bouts, when we were in Sheffield [last week].
“There were many nations, and we sparred with very strong nations. Everyone wanted to spar with us. That indicates that we are quite a strong team.”
Post Olympics years are often considered a development stage in the four-year cycles. While medals will be welcome, it is a first big tournament for some and for others a chance to see and compete against boxers who they will surely meet again in Los Angeles in three years’ time.
“I won’t say exactly what a development year is, but everything in my head is about performance,” says Antia. “The main task for us is to develop these boxers for the Olympic Games. That’s what it’s about. But, of course, medals are fantastic as well. But if you think about medals, you will not perform, maybe. That’s why performance first.”
Everyone wanted to spar with us. That indicates that we are quite a strong team
While Harrington is not taking part this time, she has been around the Irish team. Still training and in the environment, the end of the year is when the conversation takes place about what her next move will be.
The double lightweight gold medallist will be 37 years old by the time LA comes around. Staying fresh and injury-free would be the challenge if she decides not to step away, with the chance of a third gold medal a delightful motivation.
“Kellie has already done her best support to everybody. She’s still an inspiration for Irish sports,” says Antia. “And Kellie comes and trains here often. This time she needs a different approach. We will see in the future.”
“The boxers know that when Kellie achieves such a good thing, they can do as well when they work hard and focus correctly.”
The Boxing World Championships begin on Thursday, September 4th
Ireland squad
51kg: Daina Moorehouse (Enniskerry BC); 54kg: Jenny Lehane (DCU BC): 57kg: Michaela Walsh (Holy Family Golden Gloves); 60kg: Zara Breslin (Tramore BC); 65kg: Grainne Walsh (St Mary’s BC); 70kg: Lisa O’Rourke (Castlerea BC); 75kg: Aoife O’Rourke (Castlerea BC); 50kg: Louis Rooney (Star BC); 55kg: Patsy Joyce (Olympic BC); 60kg: Adam Hession (Monivea BC); 65kg: Dean Clancy (Sean McDermott BC); 70kg: Matthew McCole (Illies Golden Glove BC); 75kg: Gavin Rafferty (Dublin Docklands BC); 80kg: Kelyn Cassidy (Saviours Crystal BC); 85kg: Brian Kennedy (St Brigid’s BC); 90kg: Jack Marley (Monkstown BC); 90+kg: Martin McDonagh (Galway BC).
