Jamie Cox, one of Britain’s top amateur boxers has admitted that the next 12 months of training are crucial if he is to be able to put in a good performance at the Olympics.
Cox, aged 20, is already a Commonwealth Games gold medallist but he says that the next year is the most important of his career.
He has begun a training program in Sheffield with other possible Olympic boxers in the England squad and said that until Beijing 2008 is over he will be pretty much living and breathing the sport.
Jamie Cox has already turned down Frank Warren’s big money offer for him to turn professional as Cox is set on putting in a great Olympic performance.
He said: “This is it for me. Obviously training so hard up in Sheffield means I have little time for anything else but that is fine by me. We are training four or five times a day and it is just what I need to make sure I am in perfect shape for the Olympic qualifiers.
“Before I started training here, I could barely run a mile, now I am sprinting five miles.
“I feel faster, stronger and fitter and that can only get better as well.”
After he won the gold medal at the Commonwealth games he was obviously spotted by many top boxing promoters. However with the Olympics just around the corner, he did not want to give up his dream: “The Olympics is the pinnacle for any sportsman. One day I do hope to turn pro but I certainly don’t regret staying amateur at the moment.”
I think it is good that Jamie Cox is staying with amateur boxing for the Olympics as he is one of the best young talents in the sport.
Also, I think that amateur boxing does not get enough coverage, on TV and in the press, as it should. Quite often the amateur fights are better to watch than the pro ones and so they should be televised in my opinion.
What do you think of Jamie Cox and his future in boxing?
Best of luck to Jamie at the Olympics for all the people here at Boxing Daily!
