IN MANY WAYS, 2015 has been a remarkable year for Irish boxing.
Last October, Michael Conlan became Ireland’s first-ever male world champion after a convincing win over Uzbekistan’s Murodjon Akhmadaliev in Doha.
And Conlan was far from the only success story, as Team Ireland secured 10 medals in total at the European Games, the European Championships and the World Championships respectively.
Their achievements were duly acknowledged, as Michael Conlan was named RTÉ Sports Person of the Year, while Team Ireland and now-departed head coach Billy Walsh gained nominations for Team of the Year and Coach of the Year respectively.
Pat Ryan, a long-serving coach of Michael O’Reilly among many others, also had a memorable 2015, as he was elected as the new president of Irish Amateur Boxing Association (IABA) back in October.
It didn’t happen overnight,” Ryan tells The42, when asked about Irish boxing’s growing success. “Over the last 13 years, there’s been substantial headway made in coaching. I know now that we have a serious coaching staff throughout the 32 counties, and they’re very well represented by their end product, which is their boxers.
“When you look at where these boxers are coming from geographically, it’s throughout the 32 counties. And that bears testament to the coaching staff themselves and it also bears testament to what’s happening in terms of coach education with the introduction of the level-two coach syllabus.
“With the transportation of the high-performance system of training going out to the various provinces and down to the county boards — it’s exactly why we are in such a healthy state with our boxers and the haul of medals.”
Plenty of hard work has been done at grassroots level in order create what has ultimately become a national success story. Ryan, who himself has spent endless hours over the past 32 years working at Portlaoise boxing club, is keen to emphasise the importance of every single club in the country. In Portlaoise alone, they have won four European medals from three different boxers and one world medal, as well as 11 national titles.
There are many clubs dotted throughout the 32 counties producing at junior, intermediate and moving to senior level,” he says. “I’ve no doubt that in the next four to eight years, there will be huge development and further success throughout Ireland for boxing.”
2016, of course, could be even an even more successful year than the one just passed, with the Rio Olympics taking place. So far, four Irish boxers have booked their place on the plane to Brazil next August – Michael Conlan, Paddy Barnes, Joe Ward and Steven Donnelly.
“Joe Ward is a world silver medallist already and a serious claim for Olympic honours. There’s also Michael Conlan. Paddy Barnes is (set to be) a three-time Olympian, which is a phenomenal achievement — history in the making. Steven Donnelly came the hard way — he was very unlucky to miss out in some of his (previous) contests.”
There will be high hopes for Conlan, in particular, given what he has achieved this year. The 24-year-old Belfast native, who won a bronze medal in London 2012, comes from a strong boxing background, with his brother Jamie already making an impact in the professional ranks. Conlan himself has also confirmed he will turn pro, regardless of what happens, once this summer’s Olympic adventure is complete.
In recent times, Conlan has shown a penchant for Conor McGregor-esque showboating and levels of self-assurance befitting his enhanced status in the boxing world, engaging in some playful banter with fellow star Katie Taylor on Twitter recently.
A once-promising youngster who won his first Ulster title aged 11, Ryan has watched Conlan mature and his confidence levels skyrocket in conjunction with the boxer’s increased success.
He has great style, good footwork and tremendous hand speed. But his boxing sense is his biggest trait in terms of how well he understands boxing. In terms of offence and defence, he’s exceptional. He can box going forward, he can box on the backfoot, he can switch from orthodox to southpaw and is equally as good — he’s proven that at the highest level.
“He has the characteristics of a mentally-tough competitor. He is a great believer in himself and has serious ambition. And so far, everything he has dreamed about has come true.
“I’ve no doubt that should he continue his development, all going well, he will succeed (at the Olympics).”
One person who will be hoping to join Conlan and co in Rio is Ryan’s protege Michael O’Reilly. O’Reilly, who has worked with the coach since the age of 10, sensationally claimed a gold medal at the European Games back in June.
“When you coach a guy for 12 years, and he ends up a European gold medallist, it’s very satisfying from a personal point of view and a club point of view, and from a national point of view,” says Ryan.
Agonisingly, however, later in the year at the World Championships, there was a highly questionable points decision awarded against O’Reilly in the third-place middleweight box-off for Olympic qualification against Egyptian fighter Hosam Abdin. Despite being optimistic that O’Reilly will still qualify, after the Clonmel native kept his hopes alive by winning a third consecutive national title earlier in the month, the frustration remains evident in Ryan’s voice as he recalls this dubious call.
“It’s the one thing in boxing that you have to keep soaking up — bad decisions. We try every day. We get up to try to see how we can improve and make things better. It always shows its head at the worst of times — that decision with Michael was hard to take at the time, but Michael has bounced back very well.”
Another talented boxer who will also be made to wait before qualification is confirmed is Katie Taylor, who will compete in the women’s Rio qualifiers in April of next year, just a few months prior to the start of the Olympics.
And after famously claiming gold at London 2012, 29-year-old Taylor continued to enjoy relentless success this year, as she won the lightweight title at the European Games in Baku against France’s Estelle Mossely. Having won virtually everything in her sport at this stage, just how much greater Taylor can become is the oft-asked question these days.
We always have to be very mindful of other athletes who have achieved immaculate success in their chosen sport,” says Ryan. “But from a boxing perspective, there’s no doubt that Katie’s attributes — her skill set, her application — everything to do with boxing and her whole approach and preparation is a 10 all the way across. As a person, it’s a 12.
“She’s a remarkable young lady, and we’re very blessed to have her on our team. We look forward to her qualifying and competing in Rio.”
And despite the incredible success of Taylor and so many others this year, 2015 will also be remembered for one infamous saga. The departure of Billy Walsh, after months of fruitless negotiations, was unquestionably a significant blow for Irish boxing.
The acclaimed coach expressed much regret over having to leave Team Ireland and agree to join up with the US Women’s Team ahead of the 2016 Olympics, while stating that the IABA made it “impossible for him to continue”.
A war of words broke out, with the IABA insinuating Walsh departed over financial issues, while others claimed that the popular coach left on account of the supposed lack of autonomy apparent in the proposed contract he had been offered.
The IABA ultimately had to explain themselves in front of an Oireachtas committee, denying suggestions they secretly wanted Walsh to leave, while Chairman of Sport Ireland, Kieran Mulvey, suggested the association had asked Billy Walsh to seek written permission to speak to the media as part of the prospective deal.
Roughly two months on from this unfortunate saga, Ryan, who describes Walsh as “a very good friend” and worked alongside him as a high-performance coach for 10 years, points out that he was much “sought-after” having overseen a golden age for Irish boxing.
“I suppose the icing on the cake came a few months before I took office with an offer that really he probably couldn’t refuse,” he says. “It made life very difficult for himself at the time — only Billy could make that decision himself.
People can talk about all kinds of things, at the end of the day for Billy, he has his future to look forward to as well. We certainly exhausted every avenue to try to retain his services, but I believe Billy made the decision himself that he wanted a new challenge. He has got that challenge in the States and we wish him all the best.
“Billy is still one of our own, regardless of what people might like to say. It’s unfortunate for us and unfortunate for me, because it was reputed that ‘Pat and Billy could be the dream team.’
“There comes a time when things happen that are life-changing. There’s no doubt the challenge that Billy has in the States is a huge challenge. It’s a huge area, and there’s also the possibility of taking over the men’s boxing team, so I’ve no doubt that Billy is a very ambitious person.
“There has to be an element of wanting to do it at some stage, and I thought, when he got the opportunity, why shouldn’t he? He doesn’t owe the IABA anything. He has done a remarkable job.”
And was Walsh’s departure primarily down to the IABA’s failure to grant him a sufficient degree of autonomy, as has been suggested in various quarters?
I’m not sure exactly what the disagreement was. With regard to autonomy, Billy was the head coach — that was never ever questioned. Many of the things quoted in the papers at different junctures, people talked about the three days before being allowed to speak to the press. I can assure you that Billy was never ever put under pressure with regard to speaking to the press.
“There was no phone call to be made or that kind of thing. I know it wasn’t Billy that made that (claim). The three-day condition is about other areas… About other aspects that might impact on the association or any other organisation.
“But to be fair and honest and truthful about the whole thing, Billy could speak with whoever he wished to, to promote boxing in this country.”
And despite Walsh’s departure, Ryan remains confident that Team Ireland are in safe hands ahead of Rio 2016.
“We have Zaur Antia, the interim head coach. He’s a remarkable guy that everyone knows. He’s probably one of the finest technical coaches around. He’s reputed to be the best in the world. But I say these things very lightly, because there are many excellent technical coaches in the world, and we have many up-and-coming coaches as we speak.
We have a very well-established coach education programme that is providing us with the succession staff — coaches who in time will move on to do different things. But we have to continuously look beyond what we’re looking at.
“We need a minimum of 20 coaches who will be in a position to operate at high-performance level. Do we have that? Absolutely. Many of the guys with us are not working full time because they’re not in a position (to do so). They have full-time work, but they work well on evenings and weekends, and they’re excellent coaches doing fabulous work throughout the country.”
