NICHOLAS CRUZ has been officially reintroduced into the IABA coaching structures at a meeting of the association's standing committee in Dublin on Saturday.
The Cuban expert, who helped steer Michael Carruth and Wayne McCullough to Olympic glory in Barcelona, has been selected as one of three coaches to look after the 12-man Irish team for next month's European championships in Denmark. The team will attend a fortnight's training camp, assembling in Drogheda today.
The other two coaches are Michael Hawkins, from Holy Trinity, Belfast, and Christy McKenna, Holy Family, Drogheda. The 12 champions from Friday's national finals were duly confirmed for the European championships, although it was suggested that there were a couple of slight injuries.
The team for the Atlanta Olympics will depend solely on results in the Europeans, where quarter-finalists and competitors beaten by eventual winners will get through.
The Holy Family club are to make a strong protest against the way the light flyweight final, in which reigning champion Jim Prior (Darndale) was adjudged a 16-6 winner over Holy Family, Belfast's, Colin Moffat, was handled. Prior received public warnings for holding at the end of the second and third rounds. Gerry Storey said that the fight should have been stopped with a disqualification for Prior.
Meanwhile, elite national squad members of the recent past, most of whom have since changed over to professional ranks, are concerned about grant money they feel they have been unfairly denied.
Eamonn Magee of Belfast has taken legal steps to have his share secured. In a letter read at Saturday's IABA meeting, Magee, now a professional, is claiming almost £5,000. Michael Carruth (£3,500) and Paul Douglas (£1,000) apparently have similar claims. Also mentioned in this context were Paul Buttimer and Paul Griffin.
