BERNARD DUNNE IS confident Ireland’s boxers will live up to expectation and deliver ‘a couple’ of Olympic medals in Rio this summer.
The sport is riding the crest of a wave on this island and it’s widely accepted that Ireland’s best chance of success at the Games will once again come in the ring.
Katie Taylor, John Joe Nevin, Michael Conlan and Paddy Barnes all medalled in London four years ago and more of the same is expected in August.
And Dunne is so positive the boxers will deliver the goods, he just about stopped short of predicting how many medals he think will come home with Team Ireland.
“Joe Ward, Paddy Barnes, Michael Conlan, Katie Taylor and the list really could go on and on,” he said earlier in the week.
“When you can count them as team members of your national team and guys that are going to go out and compete on an Olympic stage, you know you are going to be in with a chance.
“You have a realistic chance of taking some serious medals home. I don’t reckon, I’d be quite positive about our chances. I’d definitely say we’ll have a a couple in the back pocket.”
Even since London, the success has spiralled. Last year, Conlan became the first ever Irishman to claim a World Championship gold while he also scooped the European crown.
Michael O’Reilly and Ward also secured medals in Doha that week but Billy Walsh, central to the team’s prosperity, resigned from his role in controversial circumstances shortly after.
The head coach of the High Performance Unit left for America in October and while Dunne believes his departure is a loss, he doesn’t feel it will impact on the team’s performance in Rio.
“I think things constantly develop, I think things constantly change and no team is made of one man,” he said. “Billy is a loss and there is no doubt he is a loss, but the team will go on and team will continue to be successful.
“I think it is a great opportunity for Billy to go out to the States and continue to do what he is doing. It was just too big of an opportunity to turn down to be honest.
“Zaur Antia seems to have that relationship with the guys and at that level of competition, it’s about the relationship you have with your coach more than anything else.
“You could have the best coach in the world and you don’t really get on that well with him, you are not going to do what he tells you.
“When you have a coach you have formed a bond with and have a relationship with – and you can see he has that with the guys – well then you will do what he tells you and then you will listen.”
Life after boxing has opened up numerous opportunities for Dunne but the sport will always remain part of his life.
He will be part of RTÉ’s Olympic coverage this summer, as well as continuing his role with Dublin’s senior football team.
“I can’t wait, exciting times,” he says of the next few months. “Boxing is riding on a high at the moment and there are huge big names going to an Olympic games who’ll have huge confidence of achieving success.
“But I’m staying at home. Mrs Dunne is understanding but she’s not that understanding to let me get away to Rio for two weeks. Could be a bit of a push.”
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