AMATEUR boxing for women is beginning to make a considerable impact at the National Stadium - even before the women climb into the ring.

On Saturday, at an Irish Amateur Boxing Association standing committee meeting, the issue of women boxers was analysed for almost an hour. The consensus was that women's participation in amateur boxing is inevitable - despite the numerous teething problems envisaged by prominent Irish officials.

Discrimination against women's competition could arise from the lack of proper facilities to accommodate women fighters at the average IABA club. Billy McKee, the Antrim county chairman, was particularly concerned about this. He also felt that he, and other coaches, would not feel qualified to look after the needs of young women at club level. Pat McCrory, the Ulster council president, was adamant that women should not be in the boxing ring, but he added: "Once it is a regulation we must accept it".

Martin Power, former Irish champion and current association treasurer did not think that the argument in favour of women's boxing, which used the comparison of women playing other sports such as Gaelic football to support its case, is valid because of, what he considered, different circumstances.

Philomena Sutcliffe, has been elected onto the new commission set up by European Amateur Boxing Association (EABA) to deal with women's boxing.

Meanwhile, the National Senior championships, fixed for February 21st-February 28th with the finals on March 7th are still without a sponsor.

The Irish Junior championships have been brought forward a week to April 11th-12th, for preliminaries, with semi-finals on April 18th to facilitate entries for the European junior tests in Birmingham.