Reading Vincent Hogan's bombshell on Billy Walsh in today's Irish Independent made one thing startlingly clear: the blazers who run Irish boxing and Irish sport have bottled it. Big time.
The timeline that Hogan outlines, if true, and given the track record of those involved, there's every reason to believe it has to be, is staggering.
Given what Walsh has achieved with Irish boxing in his career, given his major influence in turning boxing into the only Olympic sport that Ireland can legitimately compete in with the world elite, he should have long ago, or at least after London, been given carte blanche in running elite Irish boxing. Whatever he wanted. Instead of course, he was undermined.
And still, according to Hogan, even after being headhunted by the yanks and offered a fairly-compensated if less presitigious position, Walsh could still not get the autonomy he required. (Amazing to think that for all Walsh has done for Irish sport he does not receive a pension. That goes to the top.)
Now Walsh, apparently, is gone and we are all stuck with the lot that let him leave. And we're less than a year from Rio 2016.
