Clegg praises strength of British boxing team ahead of Olympic Games

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Great Britain's Olympic chef de mission, Simon Clegg, hailed the nation's amateur boxing team today after confirming the eight fighters who will head to the Beijing Games this summer.

Clegg declared the achievement in qualifying eight boxers for the Olympics in contrast to the one - Amir Khan - who went to Athens and only two to Sydney in 2000, had exceeded his expectations.

Clegg said: 'The talent within this squad is extremely exciting. The depth of that talent is testament to the work of (head coach) Terry Edwards and the coaching team.

Great hopefuls: The Team GB Boxing Squad of David Price, Khalid Yafai, Frankie Gavin, Joe Murray, Bradley Saunders, Billy Joe Saunders and Tony Jefferies.

'This squad of eight boxers is one of the largest we have had in recent Games.

'In particular, we take world champion Frankie Gavin, and I am sure he and the rest of the team will be looking to continue their recent success.'

The eight-strong team, who came through a tough qualification process, include Gavin, who starts as favourite in the lightweight division, plus two more fighters ranked in the world's top three - light-welterweight Bradley Saunders and bantamweight Joe Murray.

Birmingham flyweight Khalid Yafai, welterweight Billy Joe Saunders, middleweight James Degale, light-heavyweight Tony Jeffries and 6ft 8in super-heavyweight David Price make up the team.