England hails Britain's progress in the ring

Having embarked on an overhaul of the senior squad after losing of 10 of the twelve boxers that competed in Rio – including medallists Nicola Adams, Joe Joyce and Joshua Buatsi – to the professional ranks, GB claimed an abundance of silverware across the World, European and Commonwealth championships in 2018.

The team took 14 medals, including eight golds, from the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games before the men's team won nine more at the Worlds and Europeans.

But, speaking in GB Boxing's Annual Review, Meeting the Challenge, England, who led the British team in Rio and will reprise the role in Tokyo, acknowledged the constant challenge facing the sport, with the lure of professionalism regularly snaring the sport's top amateur fighters.

"Of all the Olympic Sports we work with, boxing has perhaps the hardest task in delivering sustained success from Games to Games as the best boxers invariably migrate to the professional ranks once they have won a medal," he said.

"No other sport faces this type of drain and it is a tribute to the quality of Rob McCracken and the coaches and performance staff at GB Boxing that they have continued to deliver at successive Games. It is an achievement which often gets overlooked."

"GB Boxing have not left an Olympics empty-handed since the 1996 Games in Atlanta, with fighters such as Audley Harrison, Amir Khan, Anthony Joshua and Adams all cutting their teeth in the amateur tradition.

And England is confident that GB performance director Rob McCracken has another set of stars on his hands as they continue their preparations for Tokyo.

"Rob and his team run a truly world class programme and as we set our sights on Tokyo 2020, I am pleased to see that once again a new group of boxers are emerging and showing they have what it takes to win medals on the big stage," he continued.

"A haul of nine medals from the men's European and World Championships is a very healthy performance return. These results, coupled with so many of the home nation boxers competing and winning medals at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast gives the whole team a real boost in their preparations for Tokyo.

"It will stand them in good stead on their journey to the Olympic Games and augurs very well for more success in 2020."

Sportsbeat 2019