Boxing, weightlifting, and modern pentathlon have been dropped from the initial programme of sports for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
The International Olympic Committee has approved 28 sports so far; with skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing all included in an Olympic schedule that hopes to focus on youth.
LA can add more sports to the list in 2023 and at that point boxing, weightlifting and modern pentathlon will be considered again, once they can address issues within their respective sports.
Speaking to WLR Sport, Waterford boxer Neil Gough, who claimed 8 senior Irish titles and represented Ireland at 2 European Championships as well as 5 world championships, says this is a situation that Irish boxing could really do without.
"As for Irish boxing you know, it's the pinnacle of everybody's career is to box at the Olympic Games. That's what they do every four years - the high type performance sets up; the Worlds and Europeans are every two years but they're only stepping stones to compete at Olympic level, and not to have boxing - not to have Irish boxers there would be a disaster."
An independent review of boxing following the 2016 games found that the sport was subject to manipulation by officials, while weightlifting has historically suffered from doping issues. Modern Pentathlon will need to change show jumping as one of its five events and prove that it is working on its appeal to young people.
If boxing is to regain its status as an Olympic sport, it will need to make a significant change to satisfy the IOC that they have remedied the issues which surfaced in Rio. Gough says that if those changes are not made, we could be looking at losing huge numbers of young boxers who will no longer have a showpiece event to target.
"There's no reason [to stay amateur] you may go to the Worlds and Europeans as a stepping stone just to get medals in your pockets with a better deal or when you're negotiating contracts, you have a better chance of getting a better contract. But look at what we produce down through the years- the top boxers have all been through it. Michael Carruth, Katie Taylor, Kellie Harrington - that's what the new young kids get involved in boxing for. Especially with a lot of young girls coming in wanting to be new Katie Taylor or the new Kellie Harrington. You lose that. The Olympics is the one event every four years that everybody watches. I think even if you're not into sport, a lot of people still watch the Olympics. And you know, for that two weeks we - pardon the pun - we punch above our weight in boxing. That's the dream, that's the dream. It was the dream for me and the dream for lots of other people."
