Kurt Walker has no doubt the time has come for Irish boxing to enter a new glorious period — five years on from the golden generation leaving the stage in Rio.
etween 2006 and 2016, Ireland rode the wave of unprecedented glory with amateur greats such as Paddy Barnes, Michael Conlan, Kenny Egan, John Joe Joyce, Katie Taylor and Darren Sutherland leading the way. It came to a crashing halt in Rio when Ireland returned without a single medal despite sending, on paper, the strongest team to have left these shores.
It seemed that everything that could go wrong did and it led to an exodus to the professional business with Barnes, Conlan, Taylor and Steven Donnelly all making the move. One man standing in the shadows waiting for his opportunity was Walker, who had spent countless rounds sparring world amateur champion Conlan.
Silver at the Commonwealth Games in 2018 was followed by European gold a year later and the 26-year-old is right to believe that he is now entering his peak years. More than that, he believes that any of the seven men and women donning the Irish vest can deliver a medal in Tokyo.
“This generation can be as good as the one that has gone before. To qualify seven boxers through European qualifying, the toughest in the world, is tremendous but it’s not just us, it’s the guys coming behind — we sparred a lot with the Under-22 team who did so well at the recent Europeans and that just showed the depth of quality we have. We haven’t even talked about Rio — there’s not the same pressure on us,” said Lisburn featherweight Walker.
“I know that I felt when I was competing in the Commonwealth Games that I was in and around the top guys in the world but now I know I’m up with the best. I have a good style, I’ve developed that even during the pandemic and I can shock a lot of people.
“My main goal is to make sure that I have no regrets, that I will give my best and I’m feeling very confident I can go and get a medal. There are no eejits at this level, so there’s no point worrying about this one or that one. I just have to make sure that I do everything right, the recovery, the nutrition… I feel I’m coming to my peak, I’m more mature in and out of the ring. If I come back with a medal it would change my life.”
Walker’s maturity started to kick in ahead of the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast and has been compounded by partner Ria giving birth to daughter Layla last year. Irish coaches John Conlan and Zaur Antia have also played their part and there is no doubt they have, overall, lifted Irish senior boxing from the low of Rio.
The pandemic brought its own challenge, with the European qualifiers brought to a sudden halt last year with senior boxers having to work at home for long periods before they could come together under Covid protocols. Despite the difficulty, Walker says he turned it to his benefit.
“People had to be accountable, to work on technique and a lot of us improved a lot because of the repetition we kept going through,” added Walker.
“Our coaches have been great… the sport keeps changing and we have to adapt to that, have the right tactics and I think we’re in a great position.
“I’ve always been known best as a counter-puncher but I have improved a lot in going forward and my shot selection is 10 times better than last year, just by watching and working on it again and again.
“We’re all ready to go and give our best… I’ve been dreaming of this chance since I was nine years of age.”