BOXING:COURTED IN Las Vegas and New York over the last four months by heavy-hitting promoters Shelly Finkle and Lou DiBella, Ireland's Olympic silver medallist Ken Egan (26) has finally settled on a package that will keep him in amateur boxing for the next four years.
Despite being offered "big six-figure sums" to turn professional, Egan's agreement with the Irish Sports Council combined with assurances from high performance director Gary Keegan and coach Billy Walsh that a programme will be built around him, has finally put an end to what was becoming a saga.
Irish boxing hopes are that Egan can now become the first boxer in the history of the state to win medals at different Olympic Games. There was little mention of London 2012 yesterday but the desire to win a gold medal was pivotal to the decision of the light heavyweight.
"It would have been DiBella if anyone," said Egan, who was seen sitting ringside with the American promoter at Joe Calzaghe's fight with Roy Jones Jnr last month in Madison Square Garden. "But it didn't seem right. I just didn't want to make a mistake. I had been under stress for the last four months, getting snappy at home. But my gut instinct and my heart told me to stay amateur. This is about Ken Egan.
"The professional game is great, the bright lights, all the money but it's just not me. November was the first time I laughed and joked in four months because I had finally made up my mind."
Until his Olympic team-mate Darren Sutherland launched his professional career this week in Dublin, Egan had been the most talked about boxer since the Olympics ended with occasional lurid stories of his post medal-winning life appearing as much on the front pages as the back pages of newspapers.
Dismissed by the boxer as "nonsense", Egan's focus now is to get back training with an eye on the less glamorous Irish senior championships in February, where he hopes to become the first Irish boxer to win nine senior championships in succession.
"This has been a real endorsement of the ISC and the high performance unit. We didn't only keep Ken now but we also kept him in 2004," said Keegan. "I remember four years ago speaking to Andy Lee. He speaks highly of us. We've got to keep our guys amateur and now we've got to build a programme around him (Ken). He is Ken Egan, the Olympic silver medallist." Egan will receive a package that is in excess of what was offered to Lee four years ago before he decided to team up with Emanuel Steward in Detroit's Kronk Gym and train as a professional. That package was worth €40,000 with win bonuses attached.
Egan will also receive the maximum core grant of €40,000, a further €10,000 for winning silver, an ambassador's role within amateur boxing as well as a career and education investment worth around €20,000 that will probably see him remain in the sport as a coach.
Furthermore, Egan will exploit commercial activities, which should earn him at least another €30,000 plus, which would bring his package to over the €100,000 mark each year.
His decision not to turn professional also shows the notion that the amateur code is worth nothing has become increasingly dated and inaccurate.
Egan's amateur package over four years is likely to be worth more than the professional offer from DiBella over the same period.
The International Amateur Boxing Association (IABA) has also begun to offer prize-money at its events. At the IABA World Cup, held this year in Moscow, there was €7,000 on offer for gold medallists and €3,607 for each runner-up. Cuba's great amateur boxing regime earned itself €50,000 for six gold and two silver medals. Just like athletics was some years ago, the lines separating amateur and professional are becoming increasingly blurred.
"It's about setting your self targets," said Egan, who will be 27 in January. "I have got to an Olympic final. Hopefully I can go to the next Olympics in London in 2012 and get a medal there and become the first man to get a medal in two Olympics. I mean I went to the States twice and I spoke to the promoters. The first place was LA. I didn't like it. I went to New York. A nice place but lots of people saying do this, do that. I nearly signed on the dotted line but I didn't. It would have been the biggest mistake of my life.
"They were telling me where I was going to live. I didn't like that. I'd a lot of people around me speaking through their rear end. The only two people in boxing I trust are sitting here beside me (Keegan and Walsh)."
Of the five-man Olympic team of 2008, Sutherland is the only one to have turned professional. Captain Egan, John Joe Joyce, John Joe Nevin and Paddy Barnes remain in harness
"It's a great day for the IABA," said Walsh.
"It's great that we can cater for these guys' needs."
Age:26
Division: Light heavyweight
Nickname: "The Bruiser"
Height: 6ft 2ins
Stance:Southpaw
Birth place:Clondalkin, Dublin
Medals:Silver, Olympic Games 2008; bronze, European Championships Plovdiv 2006.
