Kellie Harrington has not retired from boxing and continues to train with the rest of the Irish boxers at Ireland’s High Performance Unit (HPU) in the Sport Ireland Campus.
The double Olympic gold medal winner remains in the Irish system and continues to be an important part of an Irish boxing program, that has qualified 10 male and seven female boxers to compete in Liverpool at the World Championships beginning on September 4th.
Harrington, however, is not participating at the World Championships and is not part of the travelling Irish squad.
Harrington became the first Irish woman to successfully defend an Olympic gold medal when she won the lightweight title in Tokyo 2020 and again in Paris last year.
READ MORE
“Look, I don’t want to raise any speculation on Kellie’s future,” said Irish boxing’s Performance Director Jon Mackey. “She has publicly declared that she may not box again. But whether she does or not is to be seen. But I look forward to having that conversation with her.
“She is still in the system. She hasn’t officially retired and she is training away on an individually tailored program. She is still very much a part of what we do in the High Performance Unit.
“The long-term plans for Kellie? We haven’t spoken about that just yet and we may do towards the end of the year once we get the World Championships out of the way.”
Harrington is just the third woman to retain an Olympic boxing title after Britain’s Nicola Adams and USA’s Claressa Shields. Women’s boxing was introduced to the Olympic roster for the first time at London 2012.
She announced her international retirement immediately after winning her second gold in the home of French tennis at Roland Garros last summer.
But Irish boxing has clearly given Harrington space and left the door open if she decides to make a return to the competitive arena. The next Olympic Games are in Los Angeles in 2028, when she will be 38-years-old.
“Even if Kellie wasn’t a double Olympic gold medallist she still would be great to have around,” said Mackey. “She brings a unique energy to the place. She is an incredibly hard worker. She sets a high standard for herself and is an incredible role model for both male and female boxers who have come into the Olympic program.
“She is an absolute pleasure to have around. She is very much part of what we do and it’s important that she stays around a bit.”
The World Championships in Liverpool are the first to be staged by the new world governing body, World Boxing, after years of rancour and division in the sport.
World Boxing split from the previous Russia-aligned International Boxing Association (IBA), which the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had refused to recognise because of financial and governance irregularities.
Boxing also suffered from inconsistent refereeing and after the 2016 Olympics in Rio an investigation showed judging and refereeing was corrupt.
Ireland’s Michael Conlan publicly accused the Rio judging panel and the governing body of corruption after Russia’s Vladimir Nikitin was given a shocking decision over the Irishman.
The outcome was later called into question by an independent report that found evidence of manipulation of the results, with Conlan’s fight being among those deemed suspicious.
“All the attention from a media perspective and from the national federations is going to be looking closely at how the judging and officiating is going to unfold,” said Mackey.
“Having said that, World Boxing has recently launched a new format and the Asian confederation ran it for the first time. There is a judging oversight committee now in place, so they monitor the behaviour and actions of officials during the actual event.
“There is an extra layer of oversight and accountability now in place. That’s very positive and when that is rolled out over all of the international events, I think there will be a large sigh of relief.”
“World boxing knows it was one of the key issues around the previous international federation. They know the spotlight is on them. They know people will be watching them.”
The Irish team has departed for Sheffield for a multi-nations camp ahead of the World Championships, where over 500 boxers from 60 countries will take part.
It will be the first time ever that male and female boxers have competed in Olympic-style boxing for the World Boxing Champion title at the same event and will be the biggest boxing event to take place in Britain since the London Olympics.
The draw will take place on September 3rd with the boxing beginning the following day with preliminary bouts. Finals will be run over two days on September 13th and 14th.
Irish team
Women: 51kg Daina Moorehouse, Enniskerry BC, Co Wicklow; 54kg Jenny Lehane, DCU Boxing Club, Dublin; 57kg Michaela Walsh, Holy Family Golden Gloves BC, Belfast; 60kg Zara Breslin, Tramore BC, Co Waterford; 65kg Grainne Walsh, St Mary’s BC, Tallaght, Dublin; 70kg Lisa O’Rourke, Castlerea BC, Co Roscommon; 75kg Aoife O’Rourke, Castlerea BC, Co Roscommon
Men: 50kg Louis Rooney, Star BC, Belfast; 55kg Patsy Joyce, Olympic BC, Mullingar, Co Westmeath; 60kg Adam Hession, Monivea BC, Co Galway; 65kg Dean Clancy, Sean McDermott BC, Co Leitrim; 70kg Matthew McCole, Illies Golden Glove BC, Co Donegal; 75kg Gavin Rafferty, Dublin Docklands Boxing Club, Dublin; 80kg Kelyn Cassidy, Saviours Crystal BC, Co Waterford; 85kg Brian Kennedy, St Brigid’s BC, Edenderry, Co Offaly; 90kg Jack Marley, Monkstown BC, Dublin; 90+kg Martin McDonagh, Galway BC, Galway
