To mark the opening day of boxing in the Paris 2024 Olympics on July 27th, IABA is providing a series of workshops, on safeguarding, athlete injury, coaching and S&C at the National Stadium
Members of successfully affiliated clubs are welcome to book to attend 1 workshop per session. Booking is on a first come, first served basis, and booking will close once the maximum participant number for each course has been reached.
IABA will make contact will all those who have successfully booked a place.
IABA is preparing to tender for the provision of an online system which clubs will use to affiliate, submit competition entries, book courses and other club-related business. IABA intends for any new system to evolve beyond the uses of the current online system.
IABA is inviting two suitably qualified members to sit on the CRM Working Group. The Working Group’s primary goal will be to set out how any new system will meet the needs of boxing clubs, with a key focus on ease of use. This Working Group may:
Conduct a SWOT analysis of the existing system
Engage in research on CRMs in use in similar or comparable settings
Input in to the pre-tender, tender and post-tender processes.
Have input in to the implementation and roll-out of any new system.
Members wishing to express their interest in being part of the CRM Working Group should:
Be a member of a successfully affiliated club for the current season
Be named in their club’s Blocworx portal
Be in good standing and, fulfill any two of the following:
Be a sport administration
Have professional experience in use of CRM systems
Have professional IT or UX experience
Members considering expressing interest to be part of the CRM Working Group are advised:
Meetings will not begin until September
The Working Group is expected to meet up to twice monthly, or as otherwise required, for a period of 6 months.
An indicative meetings calendar will be provided
Membership of the Working Group may involve limited international travel
IABA is re-platforming the calendar of Safeguarding One workshops for 2024. All adults – coaches, committee members and non-coaching volunteers – in every club who have contact with children are required to have undertaken Safeguarding 1.
Two courses will take place every month, March to November. Acknowledging that club members have a variety of schedules and that no one time will be best for all, a percentage of courses will take place in the evenings, a percentage during weekday lunchtimes and a percentage on Saturdays. Workshops on Safeguarding 2 and Safeguarding 3 will be made available later in 2024.
In keeping with Sport Ireland best practice in Safeguarding training, workshops will be limited to 16 participants. In keeping with norms across the sporting community, the cost for this workshop is E15. Registration for each course will close 2 days before the date, and those who’ve registered will be sent payment information. The participation reservation will expire if payment is not received by 5pm on the scheduled day of the workshop.
Today marks 10 days to the opening bell at Paris 2024, when 10 Team Ireland boxers will begin their campaigns.
July 27th will also mark the centenary of Irish Olympic boxing, and we’re revisiting every Irish Olympic boxing team in celebration.
Cork’s Kieran Joyce made an explosive start on his Olympic debut at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. The Sunnyside BC champion, boxing in the welterweight class, KO’d Basil Boniface of the Seychelles in the second round of his opening bout on August 1st of that year, but then lost 4-1 to Finland’s Joni Nyman – who claimed bronze after beating Dwight Frazier of Jamaica in the quarter-finals – five days later. In 2014, Joyce was presented with the Cork Boxer of the century Award.
Paul Fitzgerald was the only Irish boxer to win two bouts in LA. The Arklow man hammered out a unanimous decision (5-0) over Sudanese featherweight Tobi Pelly before earning a split decision (3-2) over Canada’s Steve Pagendam to reach the last-16 where he dropped a split decision to Uganda’s Charles Lubulwa, who was beaten in the quarter-finals.
Gerry Hawkins and Phil Sutcliffe, appearing in successive Olympiads, bowed out in the preliminaries to Italian opponents, both of whom finished amongst the silverware. Hawkins lost to Salvator Todisco, who was beaten by Paul Gonzalez of the USA in the light-flyweight final, and Sutcliffe was eliminated by Maurizio Stecca in the bantamweight class. Stecca, who beat Hector Lopez of Mexico in the final, eventually turned professional and secured the vacant WBO featherweight title in 1991, a belt he successfully defended twice. It was the second Olympics in-a-row in which Sutcliffe lost against an opponent who would go on to win three World titles in the pro ranks.
“What I remember about the LA Games was the organisation, recalled Sutcliffe, who has the distinction of winning two European bronze medals for Ireland at two different weight classes (light-flyweight and bantamweight) on both sides of the former Iron Curtain in East (Halle) and West (Cologne) Germany in 1977 and 1979. Of course, I was very disappointed to lose there as my target was to win a medal. My hand was broken at those Olympics. Los Angeles was a great tournament and we were really looked after well. We had a strong team going to the USA and we all fancied our chances of winning a medal but it wasn’t to be.
“I felt that I didn’t get a good run at Stecca, I drew him in the first round and he won and went on the win the gold.”
Sam Storey, a silver medal winner at the Commonwealth Games for Northern Ireland, was in against Italian light-middleweight Romolo Casamonica in his opening bout. Storey was on top in the opening two rounds, but then, exhausted, lost out in the final frame, Casamonica went out to Frank Tate of the USA in the next phase.
Tate progressed to win a controversial gold medal against Shawn O’Sullivan. The Canadian forced Tate into two standing counts in the 1984 decider, but the American was bizarrely handed a unanimous decision. Even Tate’s coach the late Emanuel Steward, who once coaches Andy Lee, Ireland’s only boxer at the 2004 Olympics, admitted that O’Sullivan may have won. “Although Frank is my fighter, I kind of feel sorry for O’Sullivan,” he said at the time.
Meanwhile, Tommy Corr, a bronze medal winner for Ireland at the 1982 AIBA World Championships in Munich, earned an impressive unanimous decision over Zimbabwe’s Arigoma Mayero in his opening contest in LA, but then lost to Jeremiah Okorodudu of Nigeria. Okorodudu went out to eventual gold medalist, Joon Sup Shin of Korea, in the next phase.
The USA took full advantage of the USSR’s and Cuba’s boycott of the 1984 Games to deliver nine gold medals and finish on top of the medals podium at the Memorial Sports Arena.
The LA Games saw the introduction of a 12th weight category (super-heavyweight). Likewise, Tyrrell Biggs of the USA became the first ever Olympic champion in this weight class following his win over Italy’s Francesco Damiani.
Henry Tillman, who had beaten a young man by the name of Mike Tyson in the Olympics trials for the USA heavyweight vest, also won gold, but Evander Hollyfield lost in the semi-finals to Kevin Barry of new Zealand on a disqualification.
Korea lost a number of quarter-finals on disputed decisions in LA. The lingering resentment at those results appears to have been a factor in one of the most scandalous verdicts in the history of the sport in Seoul four years later, a decision which almost cost boxing its Olympic status and led to the changing of the scoring system for Barcelona 1992.
The wearing of head guards in boxing was made compulsory for the first time at the 1984 Olympics.
Team Ireland: LA 1984
Light-flyweight: Gerry Hawkins (Holy Trinity)
Lost to Salvatore Todisco (Italy) 5-0
Bantamweight: Phil Sutcliffe (Drimnagh)
Lost to eventual gold medalist Maurizio Stecca (Italy) 0-5
Featherweight: Paul Fitzgerald (Arklow)
Beat Tobi Pelly (Sudan) 5-0
Beat Steve Pagendam (Canada) 3-2
Lost to Charles Lubulwa (Uganda) 2-3
Welterweight: Kieran Joyce (Sunnyside)
Beat Basil Boniface (Seychelles) TKO1
Lost to eventual bronze medalist Joni Nyman (Finland) 1-4
Light-middle: Sam Storey (Holy Family)
Lost to Romolo Casamonica (Italy) TKO3
Middleweight: Tommy Corr (Clonoe)
Beat Arigoma Mayero (Zimbabwe) 5-0
Lost to Jeremiah Okorodudu (Nigeria) 1-4
Check out the Opening Ceremony highlights:
After the financial problems of 1976, only Los Angeles bid for the right to host the 1984 Olympic Games. The bid was criticised for depending heavily on existing facilities and corporate sponsors. However, the Games produced a healthy profit of $223 million (USD) and became the model for future Games.
Athletes from 140 states competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Eighteen states made their Olympic debut: Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, British Virgin Islands, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, The Gambia, Grenada, Mauritania, Mauritius, North Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Rwanda, Western Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and the United Arab Emirates. Zaire had previously competed at the 1968 Summer Olympics as Congo-Kinshasa. The People’s Republic of China made its first appearance in a Summer Olympics since 1952, while for the first time the Republic of China team participated under the name of Chinese Taipei.
Debuts and Firsts
Archer Neroli Fairhall of New Zealand was the first paraplegic athlete to take part in a medal event, competing in a wheelchair. The first Olympic women’s marathon was staged, and was won by Joan Benoit of the U.S. Rhythmic gymnastics, synchronised swimming and the women’s cycling road race also made their debuts.
Moscow 1980 was another red letter event in the annals of Irish boxing history, and its the games we revisit today, with 11 days to go to the first bell at Paris 2024.
Before Hugh Russell’s trip behind the former Iron Curtain, his fellow Belfast fighter, the great Jim McCourt, claimed lightweight bronze at Tokyo 1964, and Russell, who boxed out of the Holy Family BC, bridged that 16-year gap at the Games officially known as the XXII Olympiad.
The Ulster flyweight’s path to the semi-finals, a finish that was enough to secure at least bronze, saw him dispatch Samir Khiniab of Iraq and Emmanuel Mlundwa of Tanzania in the preliminaries and last-16, both wins by way of unanimous (5-0) decisions. That left Ryon-sik Yo standing between the Irish champion and at least bronze. It proved to be a tough one, the Holy Family man earning a split decision (3-2) over the North Korean to ensure that an Irish athlete would occupy one of the podiums in the Russian capital. Russell lost out at the semi-final stage to Bulgaria’s eventual gold medalist, Petar Lessov.
“I know you hear a lot of glossy stuff about it (the Olympics) but it definitely is the biggest show on Earth, and, as I say to any of the kids that go to the Olympics, it changes your life,” said Russell, a bronze medal winner at the 1978 Commonwealth Games.
“I always remember going back down the next day to get my medal, and this girl, obviously Russian, behind a counter, and a wee chat that you gave her, and she flicked through all these medals, and she gave you your medal, and you took it out, and there was your medal. Your name was on it.” The medal he received was the first Olympic medal he’d ever touched. “You got to the Olympics and the first fight you have at the Olympics is probably the most important. You’re saying to yourself: ‘This is the most important fight of my life’, which it is at that stage,” he said. “And then if you’re fortunate enough to win it, the next time you’re getting in, you’re saying: ‘No, that wasn’t. This is the most important.’
Meanwhile, Barry McGuigan KO’d Issack Mabushi of Tanzania in his opener, but was then beaten by Winfred Kabunda of Zambia – who was defeated by the eventual gold medallist (Rudi Fink, East Germany) in the next round.
McGuigan broke his hand in the lead up to the Games and admitted that the injury had not healed up fully and that he was having difficulty with his timing and accuracy in Moscow.
The Kabunda reversal was only his third loss in the senior ranks. Five years after his trip to the 1980 Games, McGuigan claimed the WBA World featherweight title on a glorious night at Loftus Road in London.
Russell’s Irish team-mate Gerry Hawkins received a bye from the first phase in Moscow but then lost out in his first fight to Bulgaria’s Ismail Moustafov, who would go on to win bronze in the light-flyweight class.
Two-time European medallist, Phil Sutcliffe, who also had to contend with hand injuries and fight through the pain barrier in Moscow, also lost his first bout, the Dubliner losing to Mexican bantamweight Daniel Zaragoza. Zaragoza, nicknamed “Mouse”, didn’t medal at the 1980 Olympics, but he certainly made an impression in the pro ranks, winning three WBC World bantamweight and super-bantamweight titles between 1985/92.
Meanwhile, Sean Doyle, trading leather in the lightweight class at the Olympski Sports Complex Stadium, KO’d Nelson Trujillo Trujillo of Venezuela but was then beaten by Romania’s Florian Livadaru, while Martin Brereton went out to a eventual bronze medallist, Jose Aguilar of Cuba. PJ Davitt, the second Phoenix BC boxer to represent Ireland at an Olympiad, was beaten by Ionel Budusan of Romania.
Cuba won an astonishing 10 medals, six of which were gold, from the eleven weight categories to command top spot in the medals table in Moscow. The USSR, despite having home advantage, finished second. Ireland, thanks to Russell, finishes in joint 12th spot in the medals table with Czechslovakia, Great Britain, Guyana and North Korea.
1980 Olympics Moscow
Light-flyweight: Gerry Hawkins (Holy Trinity)
Lost to eventual bronze medallist Ismail Moustafov (Bulgaria) 0-5
Flyweight: Hugh Russell (Holy Family) – Bronze
Beat Samir Khiniab (Iraq) 5-0
Beat Emmanuel Mlundwa (Tanzania) 5-0
Beat Ryon-sik Yo (North Korea) 3-2
Lost to eventual gold medalist Petar Lessov (Bulgaria) 0-5
Bantamweight: Phil Sutcliffe (Drimnagh)
Lost to Daniel Zaragoza (Mexico) 0-5
Featherweight: Barry McGuigan (Smithboro)
Beat Issack Mabushi (Tanzania) TKO3
Lost to Winfred Kabunda (Zambia) 1-4
Lightweight : Sean Doyle (St Joseph’s)
Beat Nelson Trujillo (Venezuela) TKO2
Lost to Florian Livadaru (Romania) TKO2
Light-welterweight: Martin Brereton (Edenderry)
Lost to Jose Aguilar (Cuba) TKO1
Welterweight: PJ Davitt (Phoenix)
Lost to Ionel Budusan (Romania) 0-5
Check out Moscow’s Opening Ceremony
Ireland’s David Wilkins and James Wilkinson, competing in the Flying Dutchman Class (sailing), won silver in Moscow.
Eighty nations were represented at the Moscow Games, the smallest number since 1956.
The American Boycott
The Olympics were disrupted by another boycott, this one led by U.S. President Jimmy Carter, part of a package of actions to protest the December 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Carter attempted to gain support from other nations.
Some governments, like those of Great Britain and Australia, supported the boycott, but allowed the athletes to decide for themselves whether to go to Moscow. No such freedom of choice was allowed U.S. athletes, as Carter threatened to revoke the passport of any athlete who tried to travel to the USSR. In the end, 67 nations did not participate, with 45 to 50 of these nations likely being absent because of the U.S.-led boycott. Eighty nations did participate—the lowest number since 1956.
Olympic Firsts
Aleksandr Dityatin of Russia earned medals in every men’s gymnastics event to become the first athlete to win eight medals at one Olympic Games. Super-heavyweight Teófilo Stevenson of Cuba became the first boxer to win the same division three times, and Gerd Wessig of East Germany became the first male high jumper to break the world record at the Olympic Games.
