THE ROW AT the heart of Irish boxing deepened again today.
Paddy Barnes Snr — a member of the IABA’s central council member – has demanded the resignation of the association’s president Pat Ryan.
Honorary secretary Al Morris resigned last night with the boxing chiefs set to meet tomorrow in a bid to agree a new rule book as the threat to their funding looms.
“I would call on the President of the IABA to resign immediately,” Barnes, a boxing coach and father of Olympian Paddy Jnr, told RTÉ. ”He must take full responsibility.
“It’s an ego trip. It’s all about their positions This is all about power. Our association has been struggling with handing over power to professional people and paid employees.
“The people on central council are struggling with handing over that power. It’s an ego trip. It’s all about their positions. They are the people who’ve been elected to bring our association forward and they’re not bringing our association forward. It’s gone back.
“It’s not about the boxers. When in the last few weeks have they even been mentioned?”
This evening meanwhile, Morris offered an extraordinary interview to Game On in which he insisted ‘enough was enough’.
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“Over the last two years, I felt boxing went down because of the conflict between the Board of Directors, the Central Council, the interference, the tit-for-tat, the misinformation being given out and the latest cliché, ‘fake news’,” he told Damien O’Meara.
“The real story wasn’t getting out to the public, and it was affecting boxing people. All of the lovely boxing coaches, hundreds of volunteers in clubs, county boards and provincial councils; all of them getting a bad name and getting stick.
“Everything was being blamed on the blazers. I’m one of the blazers, but I’ve done nothing but good for boxing!
“And this kind of bad news and carry on is a disgrace,” he continued. “I said, ‘Enough is enough’. This is why I resigned. I’ve been involved 40 years at every level, and it’s not what I was in boxing for. The joy is gone out of it, and I’ll tell you, I’ve had lots of phone calls from people. Clubs, coaches, officials have been onto me and have said, ‘It’s about time someone spoke up’.” Read more on Balls.
