Edwards was in 'no win' situation by British Boxing Aug 28th 2008

Great Britain's Olympic boxing coach Terry Edwards said he was in a ‘no win' situation however well his boxers performed in Beijing this summer. Edwards' team of boxers were dogged by controversy before a single punch had been thrown. Frankie Gavin was unable to compete at the Games having failed to make his target weight, while Billy Joe Saunders faced allegations of lewd behaviour. In an interview on Steve Bunce's Boxing Hour on Setanta Sports News, Edwards explained that Gavin's health and safety was his main priority. "There was an American boxer who failed to come to the weigh in [before the Games]. When they found him he was actually unconscious on the floor through dehydration. Now, Frankie was starting to dry out [to lose weight] three days before the weigh-in. That could well have happened. "The criticism that he should have competed in a different weight doesn't hold water. It's no secret that since the World Championships Frankie had struggled with the weight. It was just impossible for him. "He wanted to give it another try and two days before we left I gave him that opportunity. I left a coach behind with him; he had a physiologist, a nutritionist and a sports psychologist with him. And then I took the decision that I wasn't prepared to take a risk with Frankie's health. "I've heard all sorts of rumours; that he was on drugs, that he was on this and he was on that. Whichever way it went I would have been criticised. Had he made the weight he would have been dead on the weight and he would have been beaten in his first bout. It was lose, lose, lose." Edwards also questioned the manner in which the Amateur Boxing Association (ABA) suspended Billy Joe Saunders following an incident at a training camp in France. Edwards had confronted Saunders about the incident and asked the ABA for further information. When the information was not forthcoming Edwards thought that was the end. "If there's an inquiry into a boxer for breach of discipline, that's fine. It's the timing that this happened. To be fair it could have happened today instead. "I'm not suggesting that David Price or Tony Jeffries actually lost because of it, but to be honest it affected me and the team. The accusations and the rubbish that was written in the newspaper article, some of it was nearly three years old. It was blown out of proportion."

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