THE BOXER Kenny Egan is expected to meet with representatives from the Irish Sports Council following his failure to show up for a fight at the National Stadium last Friday.
Egan’s publicist, Liam Gaskin, confirmed the Olympic silver medallist had been in New York and said he would return to Dublin today.
“He does need and he does want to focus on boxing. He needs to learn not to let other things distract him,” Mr Gaskin said.
After Egan’s controversial no-show at Ireland’s international amateur bout with the US at the National Stadium, Mr Gaskin told The Irish Times he thought the media focus on the boxer’s social life may have contributed to the situation. There was also speculation that Egan, who is a southpaw, may have been concerned about the condition of his wrist. Last night Mr Gaskin said he had spoken to Egan by telephone and “he’s fine”.
“His focus is going back on boxing. At the end of the day, he realises he just had to focus and not be affected by speculation about his life by anybody.”
It is understood Egan will meet with representatives from the Amateur Boxing Association and the council to discuss the events of recent days.
Egan secured a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics last year. Although twice a winner of the light-heavyweight title at the national championships between 2005-2007, he went to the Olympics still relatively unknown outside the sport of boxing. A convincing winner of his early bouts in Beijing, he lost in the final.
Messages placed on the social networking site Twitter could not be corroborated as being posted by Egan or on his behalf. One recent message said: “I’m ok everyone. Thanks for your support.”
