Founder of Offaly boxing club departs for coaching role in India

The founder of the Spartacus Boxing Club in Tullamore has made a move to Asia, after being appointed as a coach of India's boxing team.

Dmitry Dmitruk, known to everyone in Tullamore as Dima, had been living with his family in the Offaly town for well over a decade and set up the Spartacus club at Cloncollig Business Park.

The club was officially opened by Katie Taylor just a few months before she won gold at the Olympic Games in London in 2012.

Dima coached Tullamore's Gráinne Walsh from the time she first laced up a pair of gloves.

The 47-year-old served as the high performance coach of the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA), a role in which he also worked closely with Moate boxer Joe Ward, who is now a professional in the light heavyweight division.

Dima's departure is a significant setback for the sport in this country. 'Major blow for Irish boxing as high-profile coach departs for India' is how the Irish Independent reported the news.

In a Facebook post yesterday (Wednesday), the Spartacus club wished Dima the very best in his new role in India.

The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) confirmed his appointment to the post of foreign coach of the Indian boxing team on Tuesday.

The BFI said he would be guiding the country's elite men's and women's boxers for the next two years, and would be responsible for preparing India's boxers for the Olympic Games in Paris next year.

Dima will be working with Ireland's Bernard Dunne, who was appointed last October as the high-performance director of Team India ahead of the 2024 Olympics.