Twins quit GB Boxing just five months before Olympics
With Paris 2024 fast approaching, the Great Britain podium squad enters its second Olympic boxing qualifier in Italy, with bouts scheduled from March 3-11.
But, after their successful amateur careers, twins Ioan and Garan Croft will not be joining them, as the Welsh fighters now look towards their futures in professional boxing.
Welsh Boxing head of performance Adam Park said: “Everyone at Welsh Boxing would like to thank Garan and Ioan for their immense contribution to the Performance Programme.
“Whilst we are sad to see both leave the GB Boxing Programme at this point in the Olympic cycle we wish them nothing but success in their future endeavours.
“They have acted with professionalism throughout their time in the programme and have always made time for the next generation coming through the programme.”
The 22-year-old pair have six senior Major Championship medals between them following a particularly memorable 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, where Ioan won gold and Garan claimed bronze.
Ioan also lost to Hopey Price as a junior back in 2016, but beat Adam Azeem in the 2019 GB Three Nations Youth Championships.
The Twins were first introduced to the sport at eight-years-old when their father, Guy, took them to Cardigan ABC, and trained both fighters throughout their amateur careers.
But, while they now look set to join the paid ranks, a potential visit to a future Olympic tournament should not be ruled out, with professional boxers now allowed to qualify for the Summer Games.
This will have to be before they reach the age of 40, though, as boxing legend Manny Pacquiao recently discovered that, at 45, he was too old to qualify, according to the International Olympic Committee’s rulebook.