Olympic boxer Darren O’Neill believes that a new generation of Irish fighters are coming through to take the places of the likes of Michael Conlan and Paddy Barnes.
Conlan, Barnes and other Irish amateur stars like Katie Taylor and Eric Donovan have all progressed into the professional ranks in the last six months and O’Neill believes that their moves have created a major opportunity for younger boxers.
Ireland will take on England in a nations clash at the National Stadium on December 16 with O’Neill being joined in the squad by a host of new faces.
The heavyweight fighter insists that the future remains bright for Irish amateur boxing, despite the big name departures.
Speaking to 2FM’s Game On, O’Neill said: "There’s a lot of great talent there, a lot of these guys are coming up. Stephen Kenna has been knocking around for a few years at underage.
"He boxed in the national championships last year and now he’s moving up to Michael Conlan’s weight. You’re going to have great competition this year at all weight categories.
“You see Conor Wallace there who shot to fame in the last few months for sparring with Conor McGregor. A lot of these guys are stars of the future, there’s a lot of great talent there.
"Those two will have to fight for their place. There are some of the older guard who are clinging on, like myself and there are some youth guys coming through who have won medals at every youth tournament so there’s huge talent there."
O’Neill also believes that Zaur Antia’s decision to sign a new contract with the IABA, is a major boost for Irish boxing.
Antia will serve as head coach until at least 2021, having first joined the Irish high performance team in 2003 and turned down several big offers to stick with Ireland.
O’Neill explained: "He was wanted by Canada, by Azerbaijan, by Saudi Arabia, offering huge contracts but I think after living in Ireland for over a decade he has that bit of Irishness in him.
"Obviously Rio wasn’t the result that we wanted, so I think he still feels a duty to the Irish public. There’s unfinished business.
"It’s going to be interesting because I think we have fantastic talent at underage levels and we have had for the last couple of years but there’s a huge transition between underage levels and senior level."
After missing out of the Rio Olympics, O'Neill is eager to return to the ring and test himself against England on December 16.
"All reports coming are that it’s a very good English squad coming over so we’re going to have to be very alert within ourselves," he said.
"It’s going to be a good measurement for myself to where I am with the run in to Christmas and with the Nationals six, or seven weeks after that."
