Latest news with #NiallO'Carroll
Irish Independent
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
'This is a watershed moment' – Irish boxing's Olympic future safe as IABA joins breakaway governing body World Boxing
World Boxing's membership has now surpassed the landmark of 100 members after its executive board approved the applications of 17 national federations, to take its total to 106 countries. The breakaway governing body split with the long-established but troubled International Boxing Association [IBA] in 2023, the same year the IBA was banished from the Olympic movement, having been suspended due to governance issues in 2019. The IABA join federations including Cuba, Spain, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Uganda and Venezuela, in becoming members of the new organisation which was officially recognised by the International Olympic Committee last February. Speaking after the news, Chair of IABA's board of directors, Niall O'Carroll said; 'This is a watershed moment for Irish Boxing, following the resounding 'yes' of member clubs to safeguarding our Olympic future at our EGM in April. Every kid in every boxing club in the Association deserves the Olympic dream – and their clubs have made sure that dream can live on, to LA 2028 and beyond.' IABA President, Anto Donnelly added; 'This is a red letter day for the Irish Boxing family, and all the more important because our membership of World Boxing was the express will and wish of IABA's clubs. It's vital that we move forward, together. Our joining of World Boxing today represents the unity of Irish boxing, but also the value we place on our Olympic heritage and our Olympic future.' Irish boxing has a rich history in the Olympics, since first sending nine boxers to Paris in 1924, winning 19 medals over the last 100 years. Team Ireland's most successful Olympic sport is now safe, and they will look to build on the success of Kellie Harrington, Katie Taylor, Kenneth Egan, and Ireland's first Olympic medallist boxer Michael Carruth.
The 42
22-05-2025
- Sport
- The 42
'Watershed moment' as IABA joins World Boxing and secures Olympic future
THE IRISH ATHLETIC Boxing Association [IABA] has officially joined World Boxing, securing its Olympic future. World Boxing's executive board today approved the applications of 17 national federations, bringing its membership to 106. Advertisement 'This is a watershed moment for Irish Boxing, following the resounding 'yes' of member clubs to safeguarding our Olympic future at our EGM in April,' said Niall O'Carroll, Chair of IABA's Board of Directors. 'Every kid in every boxing club in the Association deserves the Olympic dream – and their clubs have made sure that dream can live on, to LA 2028 and beyond.' Ireland has won 19 Olympic boxing medals, stretching back to its first involvement at Paris 1923, making it the country's most successful Olympic sport. O'Carroll named Kellie Harrington, Katie Taylor and Michael Carruth as 'the best of us' but stressed there are 'more Olympic podiums to climb, more medals to win — and our joining of World Boxing today ensures that'. While the various stakeholders involved were thanked in an IABA press release, President Anto Donnelly added: 'This is a red letter day for the Irish Boxing family, and all the more important because our membership of World Boxing was the express will and wish of IABA's clubs. 'It's vital that we move forward, together. Our joining of World Boxing today represents the unity of Irish boxing, but also the value we place on our Olympic heritage and our Olympic future. 'No club knows when the Olympic medalists of the future will walk through their doors – and its in support of that possibility, in support of that dream, that we have such a comprehensive volunteer-led underage training and competition programmes at local, regional, national and international levels. With World Boxing, we can continue to strive to build on our standing as Ireland's most successful Olympic sport.'
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Ireland Olympic future secure as IABA joins World Boxing
Team Ireland's future participation in the Olympic Games has been secured following news that the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) has formally joined World Boxing. The IABA, the governing body of amateur boxing in Ireland, had a long-time affiliation with the International Boxing Association (IBA), but at a vote in April IABA member clubs overwhelmingly voted in favour of change. At an extraordinary general meeting in April 116 out of the 117 clubs represented voted for constitutional reform which paved the way for international federation dual membership with the IBA and World Boxing. The development came after the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) executive board recommended the inclusion of boxing in the Los Angeles 2028 summer Olympics programme, having already provisionally granted recognition to World Boxing. The IOC ran the boxing competition at the Paris 2024 Games after it had stripped the IBA of recognition in 2023 over its failure to implement reforms on governance and finance. The IABA's application to join World Boxing has now been approved and Ireland is one of 17 national federations to join the organisation, taking the total membership to 106 countries. Boxing wins vote to be in 2028 Los Angeles Olympics Boxing was not part of the programme for LA 2028 when the schedule was first announced in 2022, the IOC having encouraged the sport's national federations to form a new global body. The IOC said only athletes whose national federations were members of World Boxing by the time of the start of the qualification events for the 2028 Olympics could take part in Los Angeles. Chair of IABA's board of directors, Niall O'Carroll, described the development as "a watershed moment for Irish boxing". "Every kid in every boxing club in the Association deserves the Olympic dream – and their clubs have made sure that dream can live on, to LA 2028 and beyond," he said. "Irish Boxing has always valued our Olympic journey – from our first team of nine boxers at Paris 1924, to winning 19 medals over the last 100 years and maintaining our standing as Team Ireland's most successful Olympic sport. "Kellie [Harrington, double Olympic gold medallist Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024], Katie [Taylor, London 2012 champion] and Michael [Carruth, Barcelona 1992, Ireland's 1st boxing gold medallist], are 'the best of us", but we have more Olympic podiums to climb, and more medals to win. "Our joining of World Boxing today ensures that." Boxing schedule and results 2025 Watch every Born to Brawl episode Notifications, social media and more with BBC Sport
Irish Daily Mirror
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Irish boxing's 'red letter day' as LA 2028 qualification path secured
Irish Olympic medal hopefuls are on course for LA 2028 as boxing chiefs hailed a "watershed moment" for the sport in this country - the announcement that the IABA has joined World Boxing. A vote by members last month on dual membership of IBA and World Boxing was comprehensively passed and, with World Boxing granted provisional recognition by the IOC, the sport has been recommended for inclusion in the LA is one of 17 national bodies, including Cuba and Spain, who have now joined World Boxing, taking its membership over the 100 federation mark.'This is a watershed moment for Irish Boxing, following the resounding 'yes' of member clubs to safeguarding our Olympic future at our EGM in April," said Niall O'Carroll, the chair of IABA's Board of Directors."Every kid in every boxing club in the association deserves the Olympic dream – and their clubs have made sure that dream can live on, to LA 2028 and beyond."Irish Boxing has always valued our Olympic journey – from our first team of nine boxers at Paris 1924, to winning 19 medals over the last 100 years and maintaining our standing as Team Ireland's most successful Olympic sport. "Kellie (Harrington), Katie (Taylor) and Michael (Carruth) are the best of us, but we have more Olympic podiums to climb, and more medals to win. Our joining of World Boxing today ensures that."This has been a journey for IABA, from our first vote on joining World Boxing in August 2023, to the decisive ballot last month. "I'd like to thank central council and president Anto Donnelly for invaluable advocacy and leadership and Sport Ireland and the Olympic Federation of Ireland for their on-going support of Irish Boxing. "The pace of World Boxing's growth, from six members in August 2023, is testament to the focus of its leadership team on process, performance and the Olympic spirit. "In that time, WB has scaled from a handful of members to organisation at confederation level on four continents, with full calendars of World and confederation level championships at all age groups. It's a remarkable achievement, and one IABA is proud to now be part of.' Donnelly reacted: 'This is a red letter day for the Irish Boxing family, and all the more important because our membership of World Boxing was the express will and wish of IABA's clubs."It's vital that we move forward together. Our joining of World Boxing today represents the unity of Irish boxing, but also the value we place on our Olympic heritage and our Olympic future. "No club knows when the Olympic medalists of the future will walk through their doors – and it's in support of that possibility, in support of that dream, that we have such a comprehensive volunteer-led underage training and competition programmes at local, regional, national and international levels. With World Boxing, we can continue to strive to build on our standing as Ireland's most successful Olympic of World Boxing, Boris van der Vorst, commented: 'To have surpassed the landmark of 100 national federations in just over two years is a massive achievement."I would like to thank all of my colleagues and every one of our members for their support and their commitment to ensuring that boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic movement."
RTÉ News
22-05-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
Olympic future secure as IABA completes process of joining World Boxing
The Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) has formally joined World Boxing, securing the Olympic future of the sport for Ireland. The IABA, which governs amateur boxing in Ireland, has long been affiliated to the International Boxing Association (IBA, formerly AIBA) but that organisation has been blacklisted by the International Olympic Committee. At a vote in April, IABA member clubs voted in favour of removing a reference to IBA/AIBA from the national governing body's constitution. That in turn paved the way for a subsequent vote on dual membership with both the IBA and World Boxing, which passed overwhelmingly. The application to join World Boxing has now been approved and Ireland is one of 17 national federations to join the organisation today, taking the total membership to 106 countries. The move comes after the IOC's executive board recommended the inclusion of boxing in the LA 2028 summer Olympics programme, having already provisionally granted recognition to World Boxing. The boxing competition at the Paris 2024 Games was run by the IOC after it had stripped the IBA of recognition in 2023 over its failure to implement reforms on governance and finance. The IOC said only athletes whose national federations were members of World Boxing by the time of the start of the qualification events for the 2028 Olympics could take part in Los Angeles. Chair of IABA's Board of Directors, Niall O'Carroll welcomed today's news and said: "This is a watershed moment for Irish Boxing, following the resounding "yes" of member clubs to safeguarding our Olympic future at our EGM in April. "Every kid in every boxing club in the Association deserves the Olympic dream – and their clubs have made sure that dream can live on, to LA 2028 and beyond. "Irish Boxing has always valued our Olympic journey – from our first team of 9 boxers at Paris 1924, to winning 19 medals over the last 100 years and maintaining our standing as Team Ireland's most successful Olympic sport. "Kellie (Harrington, double Olympic gold medalist Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024), Katie (Taylor, London 2012 champion) and Michael (Carruth, Barcelona 1992), are the best of us, but we have more Olympic podiums to climb, and more medals to win. Our joining of World Boxing today ensures that."
