IRELAND is to step up its search for a new High Performance director in the coming months.
The vastly experienced Tricia Heberle stepped into the breach following Bernard Dunne’s exit two years ago, and guided the team on the journey towards Paris 2024.
However, with the Irish job her last permanent full-time post before returning Down Under next year, she was only ever going to be in the job on a short-term basis.
Prior to Paris, Heberle revealed plans to see out the post-Olympic debrief, and Niall O’Carroll - chair of the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) board of directors - says the process of identifying her successor is currently under way.
“The job description is being put together for advertisement.
“Tricia has offered to stay on in an advisory role for a couple of months, to help us with finding her replacement and to tie up some of the admin features of the role before she goes… we expect to be advertising that role very shortly.
“A lot of skilled people from boxing will be involved in this decision-making process.”
Applicants from all backgrounds are anticipated, with former Irish rugby boss Eddie O’Sullivan among those to miss out when Dunne took over the role in 2017.
However, despite some speculation to the contrary, Billy Walsh insists his hat will not be in the ring.
The Wexford man exited Irish boxing less than a year before the 2016 Rio Olympics, after years of frustrations at the political machinations of the IABA, lured to the other side of the Atlantic to take over Team USA.
Walsh has been in the American corner at the last three Olympics but, at 61, and having voiced his frustrations at the judging in Paris as the USA returned with just one medal - bronze for welterweight Omari Jones – there were suggestions he could be tempted to return home.
Walsh, though, was quick to pour cold water on that talk.
“Plenty of things would bring me home, but Irish boxing won’t.
“I have been asked, a few people mentioned to me about coming back and being performance director, but I said ‘lads, are you joking me? Do you know what I went through last time?’”
Indeed, as a veteran of six Olympic Games – five as a coach, one as a boxer at Seoul 1988 – the former Irish High Performance head coach believes artificial intelligence may be needed if boxing is to be restored to the programme for Los Angeles 2028.
“Three years ago I was on the world coaching commission at the world championships in Serbia, we got a presentation and it looked excellent.
“They showed us how it worked, and at that stage they said it was 93 per cent accurate – and that’s 100 per cent better than what we’re getting at the moment.
“That’s three years ago, but I haven’t seen it since. There is Zentaur, a Chinese company who have been doing stuff for us as well, they have a different system. Jabber was the other one.
“I feel that if we’re going to be in LA, this needs to happen. We need to trial it for the next two years and then have it ready for the qualifiers leading into LA.
“If not, I fear we’re in big trouble.”
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OLYMPIC BOOST AS UZBEKISTAN JOINS UP WITH WORLD BOXING
BOXING’S hopes of being at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles received a major boost after confirmation that powerhouse Uzbekistan has joined World Boxing.
Last month Kazakhstan also joined World Boxing – established 18 months ago in a bid to secure the sport’s Olympic future, after it was left off the programme for the next Games – and had its application approved at the organisation’s second annual congress in Colorado at the weekend.
Guatemala and Laos have also joined up, but it is the capture of Uzbekistan - who topped the medal table at Paris 2024 with five golds - which is most significant.
That takes World Boxing’s membership to 55 countries, as it aims to show the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that it is capable of organising the boxing tournament at LA28 - with the IOC taking over the running at the past two Olympics following a bitter dispute with the International Boxing Association (IBA).
“It is clear that there has been a change in impetus and that more national federations want to join World Boxing, as they recognise it is the only way to keep the Olympic dreams of their boxers alive,” said World Boxing president Boris van der Voorst.
Ireland, though, still faces a big decision on its future.
Last month members of the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) voted to remove references to the IBA from its constitution, while a further vote on joining World Boxing is expected in the coming months.
A similar vote last year failed to reach the required majority, leaving Ireland affiliated with the IBA.
Meanwhile, the draw for the Irish elite championships will take place on Tuesday.
All 10 Paris Olympians have entered, though whether they box or not remains to be seen. The action takes place between November 11-15 at the National Stadium.
