Boxing: African talent may pack big punch

Every four years about 30 British amateur boxers make the pilgrimage to the Commonwealth Games not knowing how strong the Nigerians and Ghanaians will be and hoping that they avoid a future world professional champion in a tournament that is falsely considered easy.

The Commonwealth Games boxing tournament is the unknown event on the world-boxing calendar because it is difficult to assess the ability of most of the African nations. Last year there was not one single black African at the World Championships in Belfast, but their absence was due to finances and not quality. However, once the call of the faded empire goes out, African boxing officials dust off their blazers and get their squads in terrific shape.

On Friday, at the woefully inadequate Wythenshawe Forum, the first of Britain's entrants will discover just how difficult the competition can be when the bantamweights and featherweights take to the ring for the first of eight days of boxing. The finals will be at the MEN Arena on Saturday 3 August in front of 7,000 but only 538 people will be able to buy tickets for the Forum, which is an insult to the boxers and a foolish mistake by the organisers.

Friday could be a day of harsh realities for Britain's first boxers because during the last eight Commonwealth Games British boxers have won just five gold medals at bantamweight and featherweight, managing only two since 1986. During the same period Nigeria picked up four golds at the two weights.

England's bantamweight Mark Moran has not boxed since January and Steven Bell, the featherweight selection, should have had a box-off with the current English champion David Mulholland. The Welshman Darren Edwards, who was a flop in Belfast last year, is good enough to give the Welsh a gold at bantam.

Overall it could be difficult for the home nations. The Welsh squad is too big, the Scottish team should get near a medal with the super-heavyweight Ian Millarvie, the English squad has been undermined by defections to the professional ranks and the Northern Ireland team has weak links. Canada, Australia and New Zealand have full-strength teams and New Zealand's boxers have been together during weeks of training in American professional gyms.

Look out in the heavyweight division for a fight between David Haye, who won a silver last year in Belfast and belongs to the Broad Street club in London's East End, and New Zealand's Shane Cameron. Haye has hired the former British champions Julius Francis and Michael Holden as sparring partners and Cameron looked good recently in several Las Vegas gyms.