Olympic boxing coach McCracken sets 2012 targets high

GREAT Britain’s new Olympic boxing boss has started the fighting talk already.

FIGHTING TALK: New British Olympic boxing coach Rob McCracken insists his ongoing work with Carl Froch will not deflect him from his new job (Getty Images)

Robert McCracken took over the job a fortnight ago, following a year of upheaval that has seen British boxing struggle to carry the momentum of their successes in Beijing.

Terry Edwards, the architect of Britain’s best Olympic medal haul in 56 years, was ousted and replacement Kevin Hickey resigned after just eight months, citing the pressure of the job.

Great Britain won three medals last year – James DeGale taking gold and Tony Jefferies and David Price claiming bronze - but their boxers returned from this year's World Championships with no podium places.

From the eight-strong Beijing team, only Bradley Saunders and Khalid Yafai are looking towards London 2012,  the remainder having moved into the professional ranks.

But McCracken – who will continue to train world super-middleweight champion Carl Froch – insists he will preside over a no-excuses culture at the team's state of the art training headquarters in Sheffield.

“We have the ability in this country, now we have to move forward in the right direction," he said.

“We have no time to lose. We have three years ahead of very, very hard work and I don’t like to do things by half.

“Our goal is to improve on what we achieved in Beijing.  That is our minimum expectation.

“We’ve got great facilities and a pool of natural talent.  There should be no excuses for us.

“The Olympics is all the incentive that these fighters need – it doesn’t get any bigger, especially when they are being staged in your own country.”

McCracken’s arrival means head coach Kelvyn Travis will see his contract ended, following the decision to merge his role with that of the performance director.

However, his number two, Jim Davidson, is staying on.