WBO World middleweight champion Andy Lee has issued a stark warning to Irish boxing about a potentially medal-dry future should current High Performance head coach, Billy Walsh, be allowed depart for the States.
An unholy clusterfuck by the IABA has generated massive reaction across the nation, and has left Walsh - lead trainer since before Ireland's Olympic resurgence began with Ken Egan, Darren Sutherland and Paddy Barnes medalling at Beijing in 2008 - on the precipice of joining forces with relative powerhouses the USA, where he will be given a €50,000 increase in salary along with a pension and medical plan to run their womens' boxing programme.
Speaking to Off The Ball, Lee, who - as difficult as it is to imagine within the context of our current success - was Ireland's sole boxing representative at the Athens Olympics in 2004, predicted a return to Irish boxing's barren ages should Walsh and technical maestro Zaur Antia leave the Irish setup:
Billy Walsh is an incredible asset to have here. Him along with Zauri Antia, they're the reason they're keeping this conveyor belt of success and they're developing the younger fighters all the way up to senior.
We're getting results now that we've never got in Ireland, as a small country of just over 4 million can have these results and compete against France and Russia and Germany, these blockbuster nations. We're beating them and coming home with gold medals.
Though the WBO champ suggested there are often two sides to the story, he maintained that a coaching overhaul, and a loss of the man and team who have designed the nation's most successful ever amateur boxing era, would bring with it disastrous consequences for the sport in Ireland.
It's vital we hold onto Zaur and Billy. They're so valuable, and it won't be long after they're gone that these gold medals dry up and stop happening.
The success of '92 [Michael Carruth's gold medal and Wayne McCullough's silver medal at Barcelona] was not built on, but Gary Keegan had a vision with the High Performance, he put it in place, he recruited the coaches - Zaur Antia from Georgia, and Billy Walsh, to manage it and to coach. And you can see the results. If they want to keep going they need to hold onto these guys.
The Limerick southpaw also confirmed the news we brought to you earlier, that his WBO World middleweight title defence against undefeated Brit Billy Joe Saunders has been postponed for a second time, with Saunders needing 10 stitches after suffering a cut during sparring.
The champ hinted to Off The Ball about a possible rescheduling for early December, with London the most likely venue for the fight.
You can listen to Lee's full interview on Off The Ball here.
H/T: Newstalk
See Also: Michael Conlan's Reaction To The Billy Walsh News Shows What A Huge Loss He'd Be
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