Gavin stumbles off plane into firestorm by Ian McNeilly Aug 8th 2008

Olympic no-show Frankie Gavin stumbled through the assembled press at Heathrow this morning on his ignominious return to Britain. Gavin, shielded by travelling companions, looked very unsteady on his feet and – how can one put it politely? – ‘worse for wear'. If he wasn't aware of the impact of his failure to make his designated weight of 60kg and his subsequent withdrawal from the Beijing Games, he will no longer be in any doubt. Most observers have rounded on the long-established and rather easy target of the Amateur Boxing Association of England, citing the failure as theirs. Frank Maloney, who also blames Gavin himself (see later) said, “It's a very big blow, the amount of money that has been spent on amateur boxing. Someone has a lot of answering to do. These have been training like professionals and I think that's wrong. Your body will change and the weight difference will happen but it seems no one has taken this into account. “Someone's head's got to roll because of the amount of money that has been put into this fighter. There have been rumours going round for weeks that this fighter was not going to make the weight. The overall responsibility has to go down to the Head Coach who is the overall chief the man at the top has to pay the price. I know him personally so it's very hard for me but the man at the top should go. They have a lot of questions to answer.” Richie Woodhall said, “There's that many people who are involved these days and it's just been a total let down.” The man who seems to be making most capital out of the situation is Ricky Hatton's nutritionist Kerry Kayes, who told the Guardian: "I guarantee that I would have got Frankie Gavin to make the weight. "I'm the guy who starts working with Ricky Hatton when he rolls into the gym, weighing 185 pounds, and I get him to shift 45 pounds in time to make the weight every time before every fight. "It's simply criminal that he's not going to the Olympics. I can only guess that some real errors have been made and that Frankie has been let down." Kayes, who has his own brand of food supplements to sell, seems rather bold in his hypothetical guarantee to have Gavin on weight if only given the chance. Although respected in his field, Kayes would not achieve anything if the boxer in question won't do as he is told – a simple point that has evaded almost everyone, especially those ill-informed souls squawking for ABA blood on forums. Gavin last made weight in November when he qualified via winning his gold medal at the World Championships in Chicago. Even then, he apparently found it difficult to make the weight. Some people have asked why he couldn't move up in weight. But he couldn't as Bradley Saunders qualified at the same tournament at the weight above and a country can only send one boxer at any one weight. You do not just qualify for the tournament – you qualify for a specific weight. Gavin then boxed at 64kg rather than the 60kg for which he qualified. But Gavin himself knew for nine months that come August, he needed to weigh 60kg. Former Olympic bronze medallist (Barcelona 1992) and world pro champion Richie Woodhall put the responsibility at Gavin's feet, saying “Making the weight is not an issue, you just make the weight.” Gavin, speaking shortly before the Games, said: “I'm ahead of where I want to be with my weight…and I can't see how my preparation could have gone any better.” So, was he lying? Or simply deluded? The 22-year-old from Birmingham had Lottery funding worth £70,000 a year. UK Sport, although no doubt seething at the whole boxing establishment, said it was the boxer's responsibility to make the weight. "We will review the sport post-Games as a matter of course, and not about just one individual," said the UK Sport spokesman. "Clearly, this will be an issue for the boxing review. We do think he has trained incredibly hard and always had the right support but ultimately only he has responsibility for the weight that he is." Maloney also feels he man himself has to shoulder much of the blame. “He (Gavin) obviously has to take a lot of responsibility. If he knew he wasn't going to make the weight he should have said so ages ago and not gone there and wasted the taxpayers' money. His value has been cut considerably. A lot of people will be asking ‘Can he be trusted? Has he got self-discipline?' It an individual sport and the responsibility lies with you. One has to ask about his commitment to the sport. This kid had a golden opportunity to write his own cheque out and he's just blown it over weight.” Amateur Boxing Association chief executive Paul King said: "ABAE will launch an internal investigation into the circumstances leading up to [Gavin's] withdrawal, which is a massive blow to our gold medal hopes, and to our essential UK Sport and lottery funding." What King is arguing is that Gavin's disastrous and costly flirtation with the Olympics might not just affect him but also Britain's future amateur boxing prospects. And he may very well be right. Anyone who has had responsibility for looking after someone else in their life knows one thing is for certain. You can help, advise, instruct, cajole, bully and be with them as much as humanly possible. But, sometimes in life, an individual has to take responsibility for his own actions. Frankie Gavin knew – for nine months – that he had to make 60kg. The vast majority of the blame for not doing so lies with him.

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