Irish Olympian Darren O'Neill and newly crowned world champion Michael Conlan have both shared their devastation at Billy Walsh's departure from Irish boxing - but insisted he's left behind a team capable of delivering more success.
Walsh stepped down from his role as head coach of the IABA's High Performance Unit and senior team after failing to come to an agreement with the IABA that would have seen him remain in the position.
Both O'Neill and Conlan admitted to being stunned by the news as they try to come to terms with the loss of such a towering figure within the set-up.
Speaking to RTÉ 2fm's Game On, O’Neill said: “It’s a hard one to get your head around. You go from being angry to upset, you don’t know what’s happening. I drove into the stadium today for an 11am training session and to realise Billy wasn’t going to be at the helm was funny.
"It’s the first time I’ve been there in 13 years that has been the case. In between sessions Billy came up to collect some of his stuff. It was absolutely horrible. I've know Billy since I was a kid.
"I was there the day he came into the gym first when he got the job and unfortunately was there today on his last day. It was very, very peculiar.
"The circumstances aren’t what was desired and it’s very hard to prepare for that and to make peace with it."
However, O'Neill, who was captain at the 2012 London Olympics under Walsh, insisted that the show must go on.
"What can we do, that’s the way it is. We just have to trust that the plans he’s left behind and the fantastic coaching staff that still remain there will still be able to do the job for us," he said.
“We’ve been blessed in Ireland over the last decade or more that we’ve had two of the best coaches in the world. Zaur Antia is without doubt the best technical coach I’ve ever seen, but Billy is brilliant at identifying your strengths.
"He’s a great people manager. I think he identified with boxers because he’d been through all these situations himself.”
Conlan, who became the first ever Irishman to claim a World Championship gold medal in Doha last week, also heaped praise on Walsh, but is confident Ireland have more than enough quality in the background to keep the medals flowing.
“I’m devastated. He’s been a great friend to me and a great friend to my family," said Conlan.
"He’s a fantastic guy and a fantastic coach. Him leaving was a shock to me. I spoke to him and he got very emotional. It’s hard to take.
"But I don’t think Irish boxing will fall down because we do have great coaches and the right team behind to us to keep us pushing forward towards more medals."
