The match had been billed by the Irish Amateur Boxing Association (IABA) on its official website as a "meeting with world no.1 boxing nation Kazakhstan" and was scheduled to take place on March 14 at the National Stadium in Dublin to mark the 75th anniversary of the opening of the home of the sport in Ireland. 

But it was announced on March 12 on the IABA website that the match had been cancelled with the Irish governing body claiming it was due to "visa issues"  and circumstances beyond their control.

When contacted by insidethegames, however, both the Kazakhstan Boxing Federation (KBF) and the International Boxing Association (AIBA) denied any knowledge of the match ever having been due to take place.

"Our Federation coordinates all the boxing matches that our National Boxing Team is involved," Dinara Bolatbekkyzy, coordinator for international relations at the KBF, told insidethegames.

"And in the official schedule of our team, international boxing match between Ireland and Kazakhstan is not mentioned at all."

Further investigation by the KBF revealed the team scheduled to go to Dublin was, in fact, a regional club from Almaty, over which the national governing body does not organise or coordinate fixtures, but was definitely not representative of the national team. 

The IABA had advertised a "knockout St Patrick's weekend ticket offer" for the cancelled match with Kazakhstan ©Irish Amateur Boxing Association



The IABA had announced a special ticket offer "as a thank you to all clubs for their fantastic support during the recent National Elite Championships" which would have allowed entry to the scheduled match at the National Stadium for €30 (£25/$41) for 10 people per club.

It had also claimed boxers from both nations were scheduled to meet on Sunday March 16 at St Mary's Boxing Club in New Ross, County Wexford.

The IABA refused to comment when contacted by insidethegames.

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