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'Send him back to Ireland' - A new documentary looks at Billy Walsh's rocky start in America

The boxing coach previously guided Team Ireland to a number of medals at the Olympics.

The42.ie / YouTube

A NEW DOCUMENTARY provides an insight into Billy Walsh’s time spent in America.

The coach helped guide Ireland’s boxers to a number of Olympic medals, before leaving in controversial circumstances to join up with Team USA in October of last year.

The documentary highlights how the Wexford native has already ruffled some feathers in his new job.

A clip shows a dispute with Claressa Shields (a gold medallist in London and Rio) over music played during training, which prompted the 21-year-old American star to contemplate leaving the set-up.

“I kind of was like, ‘send him back to Ireland,’” Shields recalls.

The documentary, filmed prior to the 2016 Olympics, is part of a new UTV series, entitled ‘Emigration Nation’ and produced by Loosehorse, with the first episode set to feature Walsh along with Ireland and Colorado Rapids striker Kevin Doyle, who lives just 40 minutes away from his fellow Wexford native.

The first of the six shows will air tomorrow at 7.30pm on UTV Ireland, with other episodes set to feature Johnny McKinstry, the Northern Irishman who manages Rwanda’s soccer team (and who The42 interviewed last year) and young Tallaght-born jockey Samantha Wynne, who is based in New Zealand and has just turned pro.

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