Billy Walsh has revealed that he regrets persuading Michael Conlan to delay turning professional until after the Rio Olympic Games.
The Belfast boxer stayed on as an amateur after winning flyweight bronze in London in 2012, and though he did become world bantamweight champion in 2015, the Olympic gold medal he craved was denied in Brazil after a hugely controversial quarter-final defeat to Vladimir Nikitin.
Conlan turned professional shortly after and has made an undefeated start to his career with three stoppage wins.
"When I saw the debacle in Rio I felt sorry because in London I talked him into staying for four years to go and win the gold medal," said former Irish head coach Walsh, now in charge of the USA team.
"In some ways he had achieved that a year before, he was the best in the world when he became the first Irishman to be elite world champion, a great feat.
"And then to go to Rio and get robbed I just felt gutted for him. He had put so much into that and was in great condition."
Michael Conlan irate after controversial loss. Watch here: https://t.co/Sg2KTSRTDS https://t.co/4fXhWtjbsK
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 16, 2016
However, Walsh thinks that the 25-year-old turned the fallout from that judging fiasco to his advantage as he linked up with heavyweight promoter Bob Arum, who looks set to fast-track the Irishman towards the big time.
"It’s a shame he didn’t get to fulfil his dream but in many ways he got a lot of publicity, for the wrong reasons, and made a bit of a name for himself," Walsh told RTÉ Sport.
"That was a good launching pad for his professional career and he doesn’t need much more motivation. He’s a very driven young man and an out-and-out winner."
"Michael will be in a hurry."
Conlan is not the only one of Walsh's former charges to join the pro-ranks post Rio. Olympic and five-time world champion Katie Taylor and double Olympic bronze medallist Paddy Barnes are among those to have also made the switch.
Taylor has been tipped for a world-title shot in November, which Walsh fully expects her to win.
"Unfortunately, I haven’t had the opportunity to get to any of their fights yet but I’ve promised them that I will be there at some stage, hopefully when they’re fighting for a world title," he said.
"Katie spent 12 years dominating the amateur world. Anyone who’s gone pro from there she’s beaten them all before.
"I don’t think there are too many that will be able to stand in her way."
Walsh could come face to face with his former fighters and coaching colleagues at the World Championships, which begin today in Hamburg.
In addition to the Irish team, fellow Wexford man Eddie Bolger is now head coach of hosts Germany.
"It is what it is. You fight different countries at tournaments. You have a job to do and you represent a different county now.
"There is a bit of nostalgia there but it’s starting to become a new team there now.
"I know Joe Ward, Kurt Walker, Brendan Irvine, Dean Gardiner and Sean McComb well but over the next year or so there’ll be a new squad coming through and I’ll be with my own team.
He rates the Irish squad's chances of securing medals highly.
"They’re an experienced team. Brendan and Kurt came through as youths and they’re starting to mature now and get into that age bracket where you can start competing at world level for medals.
"Joe Ward is still only 23 but three times champion of Europe, which is a fantastic achievement.
"He’s a world silver medallist. He did didn’t have the best Olympic games but he’s come back from that since and win European gold so he’s up there with the best.
"The Cuban (Julio La Cruz, who beat Ward in 2013 and 2015) is his nemesis but hopefully it’s only a matter of time before he catches up with him."
Walsh brings a brand new team to Germany, with every member of the United States Olympic squad having turned pro after Rio, where the country won its first boxing medals since 2008.
He's overseen a new approach and established a funded high-performance programme in a country where amateur competition has traditionally been seen as a fleeting step towards a professional career.
"It’s a different dynamic to Ireland where we were able to hold onto our guys for a couple of Olympic cycles, which it took to get those medals," he said.
"In the States, as soon as they’re 18 they’re gone professional. There’s the prospect of a lot more money and there was no funding (for amateurs) except a small stipend.
"There wasn’t anything to equate to the system we had in Ireland. The system was there was no system.
"Going in as an Irishman you might be thinking the Americans might be far more advanced than we are but in that little place on the South Circular Road we were doing some magic for a long number of years.
"We’ve put in a system now where we’d hope to be able to hold onto these guys for an Olympic cycle at least.
"It’s a big job because it’s a massive country, but the plan is to build a system in the US that provides sustainable success over a number of years."
As for his former employers, Walsh thinks that the Irish Athletic Boxing Association will prosper under new High Performance Director Bernard Dunne, but only if they give him the freedom to do the job properly.
A recent row sparked by disagreement over who is in charge of team selection almost led to the Sports Council cutting funding to the IABA.
"Bernard is a great acquisition. He was a professional and won a lot as an amateur.
"He was involved in the high performance in 2000 and very unlucky not to qualify (for the Olympics). He went to Sydney as first reserve and turned professional after that.
"He’s done a bit with Jim Gavin and the Dublin panel, studied and improved his knowledge around high-performance sport.
"The guys who are on the ground, working with these guys day in, day out, know who’s training well and performing internationally and who’s not"
"I think you’re beginning to see the fruits of that already, winning some medals at the European Championships after a disastrous Olympics.
"There’s no point in taking that position unless you’re given free reign to do your job. If they’re paying you to do a job, let you do your job.
"Not 20 or 30 guys coming together once a month, all with an agenda that they’re elected for, to select a team.
"The guys who are on the ground, working with these guys day in, day out, know who’s training well and performing internationally and who’s not."
Billy Walsh is one of 40 experts from nine countries speaking at HPX Conference 2017, which runs from October 6-7 at the Sport Ireland National Sports Campus in Abbotstown. You can find out more about the Ireland Institute conference dealing with lessons learned from high performance here.
