Kenny Egan is strong-minded to lead Ireland's floating boxing team to unparalleled Olympic success in London 2012 after resisting offers to turn professional in the wake of his silver medal win in Beijing.Egan has signed terms with the Miami franchise in the fledgling World Series of Boxing but insists his major goal is to finish his career on a high by bettering his presentation in the Chinese capital.Egan's target comes at a time of unusual success for Irish boxing, with five medals from this year's European Championships and three golds for Northern Ireland fighters at the Common wealth Games.
He said: "The set-up has enhanced very much since I first became a part of it and the success is a credit to the wonderful work which is done by the high performance units in both Dublin and Belfast."The squad continues to prove itself world-class and the fact that the next Olympics are taking place just across the water in London gives everyone a huge boost to knuckle down and follow their dream."However, for Ireland's most skilled boxer and minor tabloid celebrity, there is no chance of resting on his success in spite of a decade of national titles which have effectively made the light-heavyweight berth his own.
Egan admitted he would have detained his Olympic silver medal "with both hands" before Beijing but is now still riled he did not bring home gold after a contentious final loss to home favourite Xiaoping Zhang."It was a close fight and it could have gone either way," added Egan."But the way it happened with the scoring in the final it did leave me with a little something more to aim at."I've been Irish national champion for 10 years but it will mean nothing for the next two years. There are young guys aiming to take my place and I wanted that little bit extra to aim for - and that's what fighting for the WSB gives me."
He said: "The set-up has enhanced very much since I first became a part of it and the success is a credit to the wonderful work which is done by the high performance units in both Dublin and Belfast."The squad continues to prove itself world-class and the fact that the next Olympics are taking place just across the water in London gives everyone a huge boost to knuckle down and follow their dream."However, for Ireland's most skilled boxer and minor tabloid celebrity, there is no chance of resting on his success in spite of a decade of national titles which have effectively made the light-heavyweight berth his own.
Egan admitted he would have detained his Olympic silver medal "with both hands" before Beijing but is now still riled he did not bring home gold after a contentious final loss to home favourite Xiaoping Zhang."It was a close fight and it could have gone either way," added Egan."But the way it happened with the scoring in the final it did leave me with a little something more to aim at."I've been Irish national champion for 10 years but it will mean nothing for the next two years. There are young guys aiming to take my place and I wanted that little bit extra to aim for - and that's what fighting for the WSB gives me."
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