Paddy Barnes has hailed the departure of Billy Walsh from Irish boxing as “the end of an era” following the coach’s decision to step down from his post yesterday.
Walsh confirmed his resignation from his role as head coach of the Irish High Performance Unit and senior team, taking up an offer from the USA where he will assume responsibility for their women’s team with a view to taking over their men’s team.
The move ends a long period of speculation and talks over Walsh’s future after the coach was involved in protracted negotiations with the Irish Amateur Boxing Association (IABA) and Irish Sports Council (ISC) for eight months.
It is less than a week since Walsh helped Ireland to claim gold, silver and bronze medals at the World Championships, with Michael Conlan, the Belfast bantamweight, picking up Ireland’s first-ever male gold at the tournament.
“I think it’s obviously a big loss to Irish boxing,” Barnes said of a relationship that brought him two Olympic medals. “Myself and Billy have been on the team together for years so it will be a loss to me personally because we’ve had a working relationship for so long, so it’ll take a while for someone else to come in and fill that void.
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“He’ll manage the team properly. He knows what boxing teams needs, what kind of sparring they need, what competition they need, so you’ll definitely see America improving now,” Barnes said, speaking at a launch to confirm that Electric Ireland will sponsor Team Ireland at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Already three Irish boxers – Barnes, Conlan and Joe Ward – are qualified for Rio, but they will now travel without Walsh in their corner.
In total, Walsh has helped to deliver seven Olympic medals since the foundation of the High Performance Unit in 2003.
The 52-year-old Wexford native is credited by many boxing pundits for being the brains behind Irish boxing’s revival on the international stage, building on the structure first implemented by Gary Keegan and working alongside Zaur Antia, the technical coach.
Antia, the Georgian, was described by Barnes as “the best technical coach in the world”, but it seems unlikely that he will fill the vacancy left by Walsh.
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John Conlan, father of Michael, was also touted as an early front-runner to replace Walsh. An IABA statement on the coach’s departure merely detailed that they “will make a further announcement over the coming days in relation to the succession plans for the High Performance Unit.”
The IABA are sure to come under heavy scrutiny for their failure to tie Walsh down.
Walsh will fly to the US on Thursday as he is due to view American Olympic trials before returning to Ireland with a view to planning a long-term move.
“I’m not very overjoyed at the moment, it was very sad all day and very emotional all day, because you’re leaving behind a huge part of your life,” Walsh said of the decision last night.
“I’ve been 45 years in amateur boxing in Ireland, since I was seven, I’ve done everything I can in boxing terms – become an international, an Olympian, captain of the team, coach of the team, manager of the team and it’s very hard to walk away and leave that behind you.”
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Speaking after issuing a detailed statement in which he thanked his fellow coaches and support staff, Walsh admitted that to a certain degree he felt as though he had been ushered towards the exit door by the IABA.
Talks between Walsh and the ISC and IABA had dragged on since last February and an August proposal from the ISC to fund a new deal for Walsh was shot down by the IABA.
Financially, the August proposal would not have matched the USA offer but Walsh was willing to accept it because it would have allowed him full responsibility and autonomy in matters such as team selection and management issues.
The IABA backed off from an agreement and it is believed that counter-offers from the association included clauses that would have forced Walsh to seek written permission from IABA CEO Michael Carruth if he had wished to speak to the media and/or the ISC
“It’s been the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” Walsh said. “In some ways I made it for my own sanity because I think anyone around me has seen I was a different guy for the last number of months because of this.
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“I’m leaving a fantastic team, ready to rock in Rio with three qualified already, and a couple in with a chance of a gold so it’s not easy to walk away.”
In addition, Walsh did not rule out the possibility of approaching former colleagues such as Antia about possible coaching roles alongside him in the US.