A turbulent week for Irish boxing finally seems to be coming to an end this morning as Billy Walsh made his way to America to begin a new career away from Irish boxing.
Walsh, who's arguably Ireland's greatest ever sports coach, handed in his resignation during the week after a lengthy contract dispute with the IABA.
Much has been said since the resignation was submitted but it seems that Walsh was being backed into a corner by the IABA under conditions that were almost impossible to work under.
Walsh has not spoken publicly since he released his resignation statement but he seemed keen to put the entire crisis behind him as he got ready to embark on a new challenge in the United States this morning as the Irish Independent caught up with him in Dublin Airport.
I just want to get out of here, that's all. It's all done. The talking is done.
That was all he had to say before passing through to emigration, leaving many questions for the IABA to answer.
One man keen to get to the bottom of the controversy is Irish Sports Council chief executive, John Treacy. He believes Walsh's decision is "non financial" and that the blame lies fully with the IABA.
He agreed to leave his full-time position and become a contractor. That's a clear indication that Billy Walsh wanted to stay. We wanted to keep him. Money was not an issue. It broke down on the non-financial aspects, I'm not sure what they are, but we'll be certainly looking to find out over the coming days.
We'll continue to wait for some answers from the IABA but it seems we may be waiting for some time to come.
