Rio Olympian Brendan Irvine insists he does not feel any pressure to become a leader of Irish boxing’s next generation ahead of the Elite National Championship finals on Friday.
Irvine will defend his Irish flyweight crown this weekend at the National Stadium when he takes on Cork native and first-time elite finalist Thomas McCarthy.
Aside from Joe Ward, Irvine is the only other Rio Olympian competing in this year’s national championships from the eight-strong team that qualified for Brazil.
Michael Conlan, Paddy Barnes and Katie Taylor all opted to turn pro, Steven Donnelly and David Oliver Joyce did not enter the tournament due to reported injuries, while Michael O’Reilly is absent following the fallout from his failed doping test prior to the Games last August.
With both a European and World Championships scheduled for 2017, there is a lack of star names in Irish boxing’s High Performance set-up, but European Games silver medallist Irvine claims he does not feel burdened by any expectation.
“I feel I’m a lot stronger since I got home from Rio”
“I’m not going to say I’m a leader or anything,” said Irvine. “I’m a boxer and we’re all just one team.
“You can’t think you’re any better than anyone on the team. We train together, eat together and live together.
“Obviously I’m still young, but we have to see what way the [European Championship] team works out because I could be one of the older lads on the team.”
Irvine, who defeated TJ Waite last weekend in a rematch of the 2016 final, moved up to flyweight in the build-up to Rio as Paddy Barnes had already booked Ireland’s light-flyweight spot for the Olympics.
The 20-year-old admitted that he struggled to adapt to his new weight – losing out to eventual gold medallist Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan in Rio – but he has since been working hard with SINI and former Ulster Rugby coach Robbie Bremner.
“I feel brilliant. My punches have definitely got stronger over the past couple of months,” Irvine said.
“I sat down with my strength and conditioning coach [Bremner] when I got home from Rio and we worked on a plan from when I got home until these championships.
“It’s been tough, but everything’s been worth it. It’s a credit to him, he’s been there at seven in the morning most mornings [up until fights], but all the hard work is paying off.
“I feel I’m a lot stronger since I got home from Rio,” added Irvine.
