Andy Lee: IABA needs re-tune, not revolution

The Irish Athletic Boxing Association are embarking on a new four-year Strategic Plan – ‘Boxing Clever’ – as we enter the Tokyo Olympic cycle.

However, while there are big plans and big aims, Andy Lee does not believe that there has to be big changes necessarily.

The former Athens Olympian and WBO middleweight champion has come on board as part of the ‘Steering Group’ alongside Des Fitzgerald, Larry Morrison, and Fergal and Michael Carruth.

Change has long been called for in the structure and running of the association, which has heightened exponentially following the medal-less Rio Olympics. Lee however was quick to stress that there is by no means a crisis in Irish boxing at the minute.

The Limerick southpaw acknowledged the high level of talent on the island, and would like to see minor tweaks rather than a major overhaul going forward.

Speaking at the launch of the plan at the National Stadium last night, Lee described how “the first thing I said when I went into this process was that there doesn’t have to be a revolution, we just need maybe a reworking.”

“You’ve got a great conveyor belt of talent is coming through, we’re still winning championships and medals throughout the World, we just need to refine it. It’s not broken, it doesn’t need a big fix, it just needs to be re-tuned and adjusted.”

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Joe O’Neill and Gavan Casey look ahead to 2017 in episode 1 of The Irish Boxing Show