British boxers aim to be lords of the ring

By Martyn Herman

LONDON (Reuters) - Four years ago Amir Khan could have been forgiven for feeling a bit lonely in Athens: after all he was the only British boxer to qualify.

Khan went on to win a silver medal, became a household name, turned professional shortly afterwards and is now tipped for a world title fight in the not-too-distant future.

Four years on, eight British fighters are heading for Beijing and their head coach is predicting Britain's best Olympic medal haul from the boxing ring.

Since pre-qualification came into force for the 1992 Barcelona Games, Britain has never had so many boxers through to the Olympics.

Four of the eight earned their tickets to China through the world championships, including lightweight Frankie Gavin who became Britain's first world amateur champion in Chicago last November.

"Not only did we qualify four boxers, we came away with three medals and Frankie became the first fighter in the history of British boxing to win the world championship," the team's head coach Terry Edwards told Reuters.

Edwards, a coaching veteran of three Olympic Games and five world championships, works with the team at amateur boxing's base in Sheffield.

He firmly believes the two boxing golds achieved by Terry Spinks and Dick McTaggart at the 1956 Games in Melbourne will be bettered and says Britain can emulate Cuba's past successes in the Olympic ring.

"I won't set targets but if they all box to their potential, and given a fair draw, then we have got a better than average chance of more medals than we have (had) in recent times," he said. "They can exceed the 1956 total.

NEW CUBA

"I honestly believe we can be the next Cuba," he added. "We have competed and beaten the Cubans in the last 15 months.

"People might say it was a silly thing to say but I promise you I've been around the block once or twice. If we keep the structure and the finance in place until 2012 then I believe that GB will be the new Cuba."

"Take (welterweight) Billy Joe Saunders: he's just 18 but I took him to a tournament in Bulgaria and he boxed the number one Cuban, the best boxer in the Cuban championships, and Billy Joe beat him. He can win gold in Beijing.

"(Middleweight) James Degale beat the gold medalist from Athens, he put him on his arse. They've proved they can hold their own. Given a fair wind we can do exceptionally well."

While the professional game has enjoyed heady times of late with boxers such as Joe Calzaghe and Ricky Hatton, the amateur set-up has undergone a revolution in the wake of Khan's performance in Athens.