Walsh, who was instrumental in guiding the Irish boxing team to a haul of four medals at London 2012, including the country’s first Olympic gold for 16 years when Katie Taylor triumphed in the women’s under 60 kilogram lightweight division, had been embroiled in controversy in his home nation surrounding his future.

He was involved in contract negotiations with the IABA for eight months, it has been claimed, but a deal could not be reached, which caused widespread outrage within the Irish boxing fraternity and prompted the IABA to face stern criticism from the Irish Sports Council (ISC).

The Irishman had been widely-expected to take up the role as women’s high performance director with USA Boxing and flew out to finalise the deal last week following the announcement of his resignation.

Walsh’s departure came as a big blow to Ireland’s Olympic aspirations less than a year before Rio 2016, but one country’s loss is another nation’s gain and he says he is looking forward to the new challenge with USA Boxing.

“It is a huge honour for me as a coach to receive the opportunity to work with such an iconic boxing nation as the United States,” Walsh, who spent 12 years with IABA and competed at Seoul 1988, said.

“It was with great pride that I was part of building the successful Irish programme over the past several years and I hope to do the same with USA Boxing.

“I am greatly looking forward to the opportunities ahead in bringing my expertise and experience to the United States women's team as they prepare for success in Rio and beyond.”

It has been reported that a contract was agreed between the ISC, the IABA and Walsh only for Irish boxing’s governing body to refuse to present it to their Board.

"Non-financial" reasons have also been speculated to be behind Walsh's departure and Sport Ireland chief executive John Treacy dismissed IABA’s claims that the dispute was about pay, with the Belfast Telegraph reporting a €1.6 million (£1.2 million/$1.8 million) contract was on the table.

The debacle prompted ISC chairman Kieran Mulvey to launch a scathing attack on the IABA in which he threatened to cut their future funding as a result of their poor handling of the affair.

Irish boxing's governing body has been facing an Oireachtas Committee hearing, which is governed by the nation’s National Parliament, to explain why a contract was never signed with Walsh.

IABA chairman Joe Christle has been forced to quash claims several members of the board were happy to see Walsh depart, insisting “any suggestion that any director wanted Billy to leave is totally and utterly rejected”.

“The suggestion that he is the victim of a campaign to oust him from his job is untrue,” Christle added.

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