Why I'm fighting Terry's corner
THE future of Terry Edwards, Great Britain's Olympic coach, is in doubt at the moment but I hope he's back in charge of the team for the 2012 Games.
That might surprise a few people who know about the run-ins I've had with Terry in the past, but for all our problems I know he's a very good coach - a very good coach.
Terry met with UK Sport last week to discuss his future and I hope they manage to keep him once the reorganisation of the amateur sport is completed. I haven't decided yet if I will try to qualify for the 2012 Games or turn professional but whether I'm there or not, Terry deserves to be.
We've had our ups and downs before, but during the last year and a half he has been sound with me and when we get on well, I seem to train better.
In the past our personalities have just clashed. He had me taken off the team at one point, which was probably the most difficult part of my boxing career so far. He seems to have his favourites sometimes and I wasn't one of them. But at three Olympics he's proved he can do the job.
He's really big on discipline and you sense some of the lads are scared of him. But as well as that he's really clever and knows his boxing - he seems to know about everything to do with the sport: training, fighting, making weight.
Terry played a really important part in me winning a bronze medal at the Olympics, particularly the victory over Imre Szello which actually won me the medal. Before the quarter-final he watched a video with the other coaches, saw what was best and came up with the tactics to beat him. We worked really hard on them before the fight and it paid off because I fought a really good bout tactically.
I think the reason Terry didn't agree to stay on straight away was all the behind-the-scenes problems he had while we were in China. There seemed to be a campaign while we were in Beijing to unsettle Terry and therefore the team. It was out of order.
The day before I fought Kenny Egan in the light heavyweight semi-finals, the Daily Mail printed allegations about Billy-Joe Saunders which led to him getting suspended. To come out with them then was a disgrace. My team-mates James DeGale and David Price also had semi-finals that day and they were clearly trying to get into our heads.
I know the BOA (the British Olympic Association) was going mad about the timing, and rightly so. The ABA (Amateur Boxing Association) said it was nothing to do with them but there must have been some people within the organisation who were behind it.
Since I wrote my last blog I've been back with the Great Britain training squad in Sheffield. At the moment it's quite hard to get motivated because my future is still up in the air and I don't have a fight to aim for. Hopefully it's something that might get resolved in the next couple of weeks.
For more information on Tony Jeffries visit www.tonyjeffries.com.
Older/Newer
« Tyne Bridge's Birthday | The day I met my pop (goes the weasel) idols »
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Why I'm fighting Terry's corner.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://blogs.journallive.co.uk/cgi-bin/mt421/mt-tb.cgi/36364
Blog Authors
Glove Affair - Olympic boxing medallist Tony Jeffries
Website
My postings |
My feed
Pauls Apart - The Journal's NUFC-mad Paul James and SAFC fanatic Paul Loraine go head to head
My postings |
My feed
Anna Heywood - Environment campaigner Anna Heywood writes on ethical living
My postings |
My feed
Brenda Boyd - the life and times of a morris dancer
My postings |
My feed
Karen Overbury - our homemaker editor writes and answers questions about property
My postings |
My feed
Zainab Radhi - on life after leaving Tyneside for Iraq
My postings |
My feed
Jon Half-Ironman - The Journal's Jon Tunney on training for the athletic event of his life
Find me on Facebook or Twitter
My postings |
MapMyRun
| My feed
Liz Lamb - talks about fashion
My postings |
My feed
Graeme Whitfield - The Journal's Graeme Whitfield takes you behind the headlines in his newsroom blog
My postings |
My feed
Write Said Fred - view from the pram with toddler Fred Telfer
My postings |
My feed
Tim Taylor - The Journal's Golf Blog Club
My postings |
My feed
Kasia Bobrzak - writes a blog for the Polish community
Website
My postings |
My feed
The Cheeky Winkle Adventures - Lily and Toby go Geocaching
My postings |
My feed
Will in Whitehall - The Journal's Political Editor on life at Westminster
My postings |
My feed
Adrian Pearson - The Journal's Regional Affairs Correspondent with a look behind the scenes of North East politics
My postings |
My feed
Mieka Smiles - our City Living columnist on the ups and downs of young married life
My postings |
My feed
Francesca Craggs - on tying the knot, tantrums and tiaras
My postings |
My feed
Hannah Davies - on life as a new mum
My postings |
My feed
David Matthews - on health and safety gone mad
My postings |
My feed
Alan Tilmouth - on birding in the North East
Website
My postings |
My feed
Mark Robertson - of the Northumberland Cheese Company on artisan food
My postings |
My feed
Marc Vargas - an exiled Catalonian writes about life in the North
My postings |
My feed
John Mackay - Local GP John Mackay writes about the NHS
My postings |
My feed
Tom Dodds - on transport matters
My postings |
My feed
David Brennan - from the website Enjoying Photography on taking good photos
My postings |
My feed
Malcolm Clarke - on life as a professional pool player
My postings |
My feed
Leave a comment