COMMENT: ABA champions can light up London 2012

JUST as the lights went out for England's most successful boxer of recent times in Las Vegas last weekend, the stars of the future shone brightly at the senior ABA finals on Friday night.

BRIGHT FUTURE: Obed Mbwakongo (left) excelled at the senior ABA finals last night (Getty Images)

It's 12 years since Ricky Hatton won ABA light-welterweight gold, while Olympic gold medallist James DeGale did so in 2005 and Frankie Gavin was a double champion in 2005 and 2007 - the future looks bright for those who excelled themselves last night.

But for all three of these English greats, the decision to turn their backs on the amateur sport and sign lucrative deals with leading promoters was an easy one. In boxing, perhaps more than any other sport, money talks.

For all 12 champions - five of which are still in their teens - crowned at all Olympic weights at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield on Friday, London 2012 is a buzz word, the ultimate goal and the reason to train.

Obed Mbwakongo - a 20-year-old light-heavyweight - is a name that constantly springs up in boxing circles when 2012 gets a mention, while 17-year-old Gamal Yafai draws inevitable comparisons to brother and Beijing Olympian Khalid Yafai.

AMATEUR HOUR: Khalid Yafai, whose brother Gamal won the senior ABA title on Friday, has stated his intentions to stay amateur until 2012 (Getty Images)

Both proved victorious in Sheffield, justifying the hype that surrounds them. The message emanating from the 2009 senior ABA finals is clear - English boxing is in a healthy state.

But professional promoters will come a-knocking.

That, in turn, has knock-on effects for the British Amateur Boxing Association, and performance director Kevin Hickey will have been pleased with what he saw last night.

Hickey returned to the amateur boxing fold after a 20-year absence in January but his comeback was not as smooth as the former ABA director of coaching would have hoped.

Terry Edwards was the man who led Great Britain to their most successful Olympics for more than 50 years and was popular among the British stables, but he was quickly shown the door.

Hickey, who spent 12 years a technical adviser to the BOA, is under pressure to deliver at London 2012. He has £8million worth of UK Sport funding (a 38 per cent increase) to work with and he must surpass Edwards' feat to avoid failure.

His greatest challenge is to keep the likes of the Yafai brothers, Mbwakongo and European bantamweight champion Luke Campbell out of the professional spotlight up until London 2012.

Of the seven British boxers who went to the Beijing Olympics, only Yafai senior and Bradley Saunders remain in the amateur ranks.

But Hickey insists an agreement is in place with boxing promoters across the country that compensation must be paid, should any boxers under the GB umbrella be signed up.

"An agreement has been reached where the boxers on the GB programme will stay on the programme, a contract has been signed and it's up to myself and the BABA to release them should we want - the guarantee is there," he said.

"If they do turn pro there is to be a repayment to UK Sport for the investment for that year. All of the guys on the podium have signed up now - it's all done."

Should those contracts hold up and put up enough of a defence to stop professional temptations from luring his stable away then Hickey has already fought half the battle.

The senior ABA finals demonstrated that Britain can soar to dizzy heights at London 2012, but Hickey must make sure his fledglings do not fly the nest just yet.