The Irish Amateur Boxing Association is the governing body of amateur boxing

Amateur boxing

Amateur boxing is practised at the collegiate level, at the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games, and in many other venues sponsored by amateur boxing associations. Amateur boxing bouts are short in duration and fighters wear head protection, so this type of competition prizes point-scoring rather...

 in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. It was founded in 1911 following a meeting in Dublin.

Structure

The IABA organises amateur boxing on an all-Ireland basis in both Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

 and the Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

, with each of the four provinces

Provinces of Ireland

Ireland has historically been divided into four provinces: Leinster, Ulster, Munster and Connacht. The Irish word for this territorial division, cúige, literally meaning "fifth part", indicates that there were once five; the fifth province, Meath, was incorporated into Leinster, with parts going to...

 having its own council plus additional councils for County Dublin

County Dublin

County Dublin is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Dublin Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Dublin which is the capital of Ireland. County Dublin was one of the first of the parts of Ireland to be shired by King John of England following the...

 and County Antrim

County Antrim

County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,844 km², with a population of approximately 616,000...

.

National Stadium

In 1937, the IABA proposed to construct a stadium solely for the purposes of boxing. The National Boxing Stadium was the first purpose built boxing stadium in the world and was opened by Frank Aiken

Frank Aiken

Frank Aiken was a commander of the Irish Republican Army and later an Irish politician. A founding-member of Fianna Fáil, Aiken was first elected to Dáil Éireann in 1923 and at each subsequent election until 1973...

 in 1939.

The stadium is still owned by the association and has been used by the IABA for over 60 years as the venue of their national and international contests.

Olympic performance

Irish boxers have won twelve medals at the Olympic Games

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

. Ireland has won more medals in boxing than in any other Olympic sport. Michael Carruth

Michael Carruth

Michael Carruth is a southpaw Irish Olympic boxer from Dublin who won the welterweight gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. Carruth has just finished a stint as expert boxing analyst for RTEs Olympic coverage...

 won Ireland's only gold medal in boxing in the welterweight

Welterweight

Welterweight is a weight class division in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like kickboxing, taekwondo and mixed martial arts also began to use it for their own weight division system...

 class at the 1992 Summer Olympics

Boxing at the 1992 Summer Olympics

Boxing at the 1992 Summer Olympics took place in the old Pavelló Club Joventut de Badalona in Barcelona. The boxing schedule began on July 26 and ended on August 9...

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