The 69-year-old from Sheffield, who served as Minister of Sport in the Labour Government from 2001 to 2007, took over as ABAE chairman last year and has already began reforming the organisation with the aim of improving governance at a time of renewed success for the sport.

It comes as boxing received a big funding increase from both UK Sport and Sport England as a reward for their success at elite level and grassroots but Caborn has vowed to keep improving.

"At the grassroots the sport continues to grow and according to the latest Active People Survey from Sport England, 140,400 people now take part in the sport at least once per week," said Caborn in a New Year Message sent to more than 800 boxing clubs across England.

"This is a rise of over 30 per cent in the last four years and means that boxing is one of only five sports funded by Sport England to deliver sustained growth in participation since 2008.

"Our success in doing this was rewarded in December 2012 when Sport England announced that its funding for boxing will rise by 26 per cent for the period 2013-17.

"£1 million ($1.6 million/€1.2 million) of this has been specifically designated for clubs and the ABAE will be contacting every boxing club in England after April 2013 to share details of how they can bid for a share of this money.

"At the elite level, it has been a memorable year as three English boxers won gold medals at the Olympic Games with a fourth winning bronze.

"All of the medal winners have come through the club system and are testament to the great work that goes at the grassroots to develop young boxers and provide them with the pathways and opportunities to turn them into Olympic Champions.

"It was fantastic achievement and I have absolutely no doubt that the superb performances of Nicola Adams, Luke Campbell, Anthony Joshua (who all won gold) and Anthony Ogogo (who took bronze) will give the sport a massive boost and inspire more young people to learn boxing and deliver a genuine legacy from the Games."


Caborn also took the opportunity to outline some initiatives planned to continue to help the sport grow.

"We will continue to broaden our work with schools, FE (Further Education) colleges and Universities and establish more links with boxing clubs," he said.

"For recreational boxers, an ABAE accredited boxing fitness product is set to be launched that will be accessible in clubs and gyms throughout England.

"We will also be investing in coaching and running a series of training modules to help increase the number of coaches and develop the skills of those already working in the sport.

"It promises to be a very busy 12 months and to help us to manage this we have made a number of changes to the running of the organisation to ensure the ABAE has the right structures in place to build on the growth in participation the sport has witnessed in recent years and capitalise on the success of the Olympic boxing team at 2012.

"Working with the British Amateur Boxing Association (BABA) to use all the expertise they have gained in developing the Olympic squad will be available to help build and develop our sport at the grass root and club level."

Caborn added that the ABAE and its members must use London 2012 as a catalyst for improvement.

"The Olympic Games has provided us with a unique opportunity to develop the sport and as we look to do this over the next few years, the boxing clubs and all of the people that work tirelessly within them will continue to be at the heart of everything we do," he said.

"The people and volunteers that work in boxing clubs are the bedrock on which this sport is built and none of the achievements we have seen in the last 12 months would be possible without the hard work and dedication of people up and down the country who work tirelessly in clubs and provide enormous benefits to the people and communities around them."

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