But Bruree man Walsh also felt a debt of gratitude as he departed Vladivostok, the city which lies just 100km east of the Chinese border.
Five members of the five-strong Irish boxing team, including some of the nation's best medal hopes at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, had been putting the finishing touches to their preparations.

As team manager Walsh took a keen interest in how Olympians Paddy Barnes at light flyweight, bantamweight John Joe Nevin, light welterweight John Joe Joyce, middleweight Darren Sutherland and light-heavyweight Kenneth Egan fared.

In Vladivostok the Irish fighters, who are coached by Billy Walsh and Georgia-born Zuar Anita, a former coach to the old USSR squad, had the chance to pit their wits against members of the Russian Olympic boxing team.

Russia is the only nation to have qualified a full compliment of 11 fighters for this month's Olympics. If you want to see how well you are prepared to compete in the biggest sporting event in the world, a spot of sparring with a top ranked Russian will leave you in no doubt.
Jim Walsh says Vladivostok has potential to be a beautiful tourist resort, with its long, spectacular beaches, but at present, it is largely grey and untidy.

However, the Irish delegation didn't have the time to stop and sniff the roses.

Facilities at the training camp were first class. With only a few days to go to the start of the Olympics the emphasis is very much on being prepared.

But before a punch is thrown in anger at Beijing's magnificent 12,000-seater Workers Indoor Arena this Saturday, Walsh will participate in the Olympics' lavish three and-a-half hour Opening Ceremony.
The 68-year-old Limerickman, with the distinctive white beard, will proudly march behind the tricolour as the Irish team passes the dignitaries in the Olympic Stadium, dubbed the 'Bird's Nest', and then send greetings to a worldwide TV audience of more than 1 billion viewers.

He has come a long way since, like thousands of other Irishmen, he beat the tough economic times of the 1950s and '60s by heading across to London to work in construction.

"I have known since November 2006 that I would be Irish boxing team manager for these Olympics," Jim Walsh explained.

"To have the chance to participate along with members of the Irish team in the Opening and Closing Ceremonies is hugely exciting of my role.
"I am over the moor at the prospect of walking with the Irish delegation. It's a wonderful honour.

"It will be a long day, eight or 10 hours, with well worth it.
"My role as team manager will basically to take care of the welfare of the boxers in the lead up to, and during, the Games.

"I don't know if any Irish boxer will take part in the Opening ceremony. It's a long and tiring day and some of them could be in the ring the next day. That depends on the draw.

"We spent time in Beijing before heading to Vladivostok for the training camp. The Olympic village is fantastic.

"The athletes could not have asked for anything more."
Jim Walsh could hardly have envisaged becoming manager to the Irish Olympic boxing team when he developed his interest in the sport in London in the late 1950s and early '60s.

"I was 18 when I first got involved in boxing in London. I boxed at welterweight and light middleweight with a club based in King's Cross called St Pancreas," Jim Walsh explained.
"I suppose I had about 50 or 60 fights in all, but never took it too seriously.

"I probably won about half of my fights. There were a good few other Irish guys involved there at the time.
"I spent close on 30 years in London altogether.
"At one stage when I came back, I got involved in St John's Boxing Club.
"I ran a pub, the Angler's Rest, in Athlacca, for three years in the 1980s. I was involved in a boxing club in Bruree for a time and one in Charleville and Kilmallock at different stages.
"The coaching side of boxing is so time consuming. Currently, I am a member of St Francis Boxing Club."

Walsh has served in a number of administrative roles at County Board, Munster Council and Central Council level.
He has been team manager to a number of hugely successful Irish boxing teams in recent years.

In June 2007, Walsh was manager of the Irish team which claimed three gold, one silver and one bronze medal at the EU Championships for which he won a Phillips Manager of the Month Award.
The fact that Ireland will have five boxers in action in Beijing in the coming weeks is a significant achievement.

Ireland had just one representative at the two most recent Olympics, Cork's Michael Roche in Sydney in 2000 and Limerick's Andy Lee in Athens four years ago.

"It is extremely difficult for boxers from Europe to qualify for the Olympics," Jim Walsh explained.

"To have five competing in Beijing is a terrific achievement for Ireland. It is a pity that no boxer from Munster has made it through this time.

"But one downside from the advent of the Celtic Tiger is that men who were unemployed and coached boxing in the past have now found work," Jim Walsh said.

"Because it is such a time consuming sport, these guys don't have the time to coach young lads after doing a long day's work."
One of the key factors which will determine how the Irish boxers fare in Beijing will be the draw. It takes place in the Asia Hotel this Friday.

"The draw is absolutely critical. It is not seeded so any two fighters ina weight division can be drawn to face each other," Jim Walsh explained.

"If you can avoid the big guns early on, then you are in with a shout of winning a medal.

"I can see Ireland winning two medals at the Games, but I don't want to say which two fighters might win them. The luck of the draw is huge."
Win, lose or draw in Beijing, Jim Walsh will begin life as a restaurateur when he returns home to Limerick later this month.
He has recently taken out a lease on the 66-seater Maxwell's Lane restaurant in Croom.

But boxing is the main course on Walsh's menu right now.