Episode #33 - Inequality in Irish Boxing with Derek Ahern

In this episode of the podcast, I sit down with Derek Ahearn. Derek is a Level 2 IABA  & 1-star AIBA Coach & an IABA / SPORTS Ireland Boxing Coaching Tutor. 

Derek was heavily involved in boxing from a young age and started coaching St Saviours in 2001 to 2016 travelling all over Ireland, France Russia Estonia & many trips to England with teams.  Since 2015 Derek has been the head coach at DCU BC & has travelled to Sweden & England with teams. In 2018  Derek coached the Irish student team in the AIBA WORLD Student Games.

We delve into how boxing, although proclaimed to be our most successful Olympic sport, has been In decline due to various factors that we go into in the podcast such as the IABA's split with high-performance coach Billy Walsh and current issues with funding. One of boxing's most important functions is giving people from disadvantaged backgrounds an avenue to excel. We discuss how sports Ireland have negated the societal benefits of boxing and have focused just on tangible successes like medals at elite competitions. As a result, funding has decreased leading to the closure of clubs across the country.