Bernard O’Neill talks to Irish amateur boxing coach Zuar Antia as he prepares to lead the Irish squad to the World Championships in Chicago
Unbeaten Irish middleweight Andy Lee believes that Irish assistant coach Zuar Antia is one of the top amateur boxing coaches in the world.
Antia left his native Georgia to take up a position with the Irish Amateur Boxing Association’s High Perform-ance Unit in 2003 and has played an integral part in the almost constant success of Irish boxers in international competition over the last number of years.
The High Performance Unit is directed by Gary Keegan, and Antia, head coach Billy Walsh, and Jim Moore are working behind the scenes with the various Men’s, Women’s Junior and Cadet squads to ensure that each panel is in peak condition for domestic and international challenges.
Indeed, it is a measure of the programme’s progress that Irish boxers occupy 35 positions in the ABA’s world and European rankings just released for September 2007. That is an incredible achievement when viewed in the context of Ireland’s relatively small population compared to the vastly greater populations of the nations Ireland is competing against.
Limerick southpaw Andy Lee was one of the first boxers to be included in the IABA High Performance Unit after he reached the World Junior light middleweight final in Havana in 2002, where he was beaten for gold by a Cuban, Novelias Dias.
Lee went on to qualify for the 2004 Olympics but after the games he decided to sign a five-year professional contract with the Kronk Gym in Detroit under legendary coach Emanuel Steward, who has trained and managed over 30 world champions including Lennox Lewis, Thomas Hearns and Oscar de la Hoya to name but three.
However, while Lee – who remains unbeaten after 12 professional fights – is full of praise for Steward, who was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 2005, he is also very appreciative of what he learn under Antia.
He says: “I learned so much under Antia and Billy Walsh that is hard to know where to start really. When I finished a training session, I also felt that I had learned something and that is very important.
“Zuar is a very technical coach and what I learned from him from our technical sparring session was invaluable. Zuar also gets on very well with the lads in the Irish squad and this used to help enormously with team spirit.
“He was a top class boxer in his day also and when he gives advice you listen because he has been there and done that. I definitely think he is one of the top amateur boxing coaches in the world.”
Antia’s wife and family have now settled with him in Bray, Co Wicklow, and the former Georgian National team boxing coach says he is enjoying life in Ireland and working with the Irish Amateur Boxing Association.
“I had travelled to Ireland a few times when I was coach with the Georgian team,” he remembers. “I applied for the position with the High Performance Unit in 2003; I did the interview and got the job, and I have enjoyed every minute of it since.
“My family are very happy here and I love the country and the people. It is a great situation to be in because I love my job and enjoy helping to develop the talents of Irish boxers. I also enjoy the fact that sport is so important in Ireland and everyone seems to have a great interest in all sports.
“It gives us all a lot of satisfaction to see our boxers develop up from Junior and Cadet level to the Irish senior team, and we were very proud of our performances at the European Union Championships last June as we won three gold and two silver medals.
“Performing well in tournaments like the European Union Championships will give our team a lot of confidence in Chicago [for the World Championships] for a number of reasons. One is because we know we can compete with the best and the other is because we have gained the experience of competing in tournaments which require our boxers to fight every second day over the course of a week or more.”
Antia came to Ireland with impressive credentials as he had won six Georgian national titles at welterweight level, as well as claiming a gold medal for his country at the Soviet Union Countries Champion-ships. The Irish coach, now 45 years old, retired as an amateur boxer aged 26 and took up a role as coach with the Georgian national side, where he helped steer boxers to both the Atlanta and Sydney Olympics Games. Ireland will need that type of experience in the coming weeks, as they will be competing at the World Championships and Olympic qualifiers, which begin next Tuesday at the University of Illinois in Chicago.
Most boxers reaching the quarter-finals in the Windy City will qualify for the Olympics, although heavyweights and super heavyweights must reach the semi-finals to book their tickets for Beijing 2008.
The Irish squad, along with Antia, flew out to Chicago last week and will train at the University of Illinois ahead of the competition, which are expected to commence for Ireland on Wednesday 24 October. Most of the Irish squad can expect to have at least three fights to get to quarter-finals, although super heavyweight Cathal McMon-agle might have to fight up to five times.
The big talking point ahead of the World Championships has been the absence of the Cubans, who have yet to enter a team because of a row over alleged defections from last summer’s Pan American Games in Brazil.
Two Cuban boxers allegedly defected in Rio, and Cuban President Fidel Castro threatened to pull the entire team out of Chicago. Up to last weekend the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) was leaving the door open for Cuba, but it now seem unlikely that the Caribbean country will take part.
Antia is well aware of the situation with Cuba, and says that he has been watching developments with interest.
“It doesn’t look like the Cubans will compete in Chicago but if they don’t they will concentrate on qualifying for the Olympics from next year’s Pan American Games, which they always dominate,” he says.
“If Cuba are missing in Chicago, that will mean that everyone has a better chance as they have always been one of the best in the world and they are very hard to beat.”
Darren Sutherland, Ken Egan, Roy Sheahan and Eric Donovan, all of whom are included on the Irish squad for Chicago, have competed at World Championships level before, with Sutherland reaching the quarter-finals in China in 2005 and Egan and Sheahan making it to the last 16.
If Sutherland can match that achievement this time out, and Egan and Sheahan can go one better, then Ireland will have at least three boxers at next year’s Olympics in Beijing. It’s an objective that can be achieved.
Antia wants to see at least three boxers qualify, and believes that they can hit their target in Chicago, or in Italy and Greece in February and April next year when the two final Olympics qualifying tournaments for European boxers will be held.
“It will be a tough tournament,” says Antia of the World Championships, “but if we get a good draw in the opening rounds then the squad will gain a lot of momentum which is most important at this level.
“The draw is very important, I feel. Our squad has a lot of experience because some of our boxers have fought at this level before and they know what to expect and they won’t be overawed, even though this year’s World Championships are also Olympic qualifiers.
“I think we can get two or maybe three boxers qualified for the Olympics in Chicago and that is our target. If we achieve that we will be very pleased. I was very proud to have helped Georgia to get boxers qualified for the Olympics, and I will also be very proud if I can help to get Irish boxers qualified for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.”
