Britain decide on revamp despite Beijing medals

By Martyn Herman

LONDON (Reuters) - Amateur boxing has undergone an organisational shake-up despite the country's best Olympic performance since 1956.

UK Sport, the government body that pumps five million pounds into the sport, said on Friday the British Amateur Boxing Association (BABA) rather than the ABA of England would be in charge in the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics after concerns over how the game was being run.

A UK Sport spokesman said it was hoped head coach Terry Edwards, who is contracted until March 2009, would stay on.

"We were very supportive of the excellent job Terry did in the run-up to Beijing and hope he is keen to stay," said the spokesman.

"There were issues about the governance of the sport we felt needed to improve."

Britain won Olympic gold through James DeGale in August while David Price and Tony Jeffries went home with bronzes.

However, the success was tempered by world champion Frankie Gavin's failure to make his weight on the eve of the Olympics, a dispute over expenses and revelations about teenager Billy Joe Saunders released by the ABA against the wishes of Edwards.

"It was clear the sport was not in harmony," added the UK Sport spokesman. "The timing of the (Saunders) announcement had a destabilising effect on the team."

(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Tony Jimenez)