The look on Sebastian Coe's face as he glanced down at the silver medal around his neck after the 800 metres final of the 1980 Moscow Olympics was one of disgust rather than delight.

Bitter rival Steve Ovett had just acquired the gold, the only one that mattered as far as Coe was concerned. Finishing second in his prime event equated to failure. You sensed he might cheerfully have tossed his consolation prize into the nearest trash bin.

Hopefully that is a feeling that will not be shared by the young trio of British fighters who have just returned from the World Amateur Championships in Azerbaijan with silver medals of their own. For, make no mistake, these were no bits of boxing bling; this time next year I predict that at least one - or more - of them will be worth their weight in Olympic gold.

Britain's performance in Baku, where London super-heavyweight Anthony Joshua, Hull bantamweight Luke Campbell and Welsh flyweight Andrew Selby, the current European champion, all won silver, with Liverpool light-welter Tom Stalker adding bronze to a jingling collection , was more than outstanding. It was superb. In all, British boxers have qualified for 2012 in five weight divisions, with the strong likelihood of more to come in the final qualifying event next year.

This is a timely boost for the sport in this country, with head coach Rob McCracken skilfully building on the excellent foundations laid  by predecessor Terry Edwards up to and including Beijing.

Under Edwards GB have had boxers on the medal rostrum in three successive Olympics: Audley Harrison (gold) in Sydney, Amir Khan Khan (silver) in Athens and James DeGale (gold), and David Price and Tony Jeffries (both bronze) in Beijing. Plus Britain's only world amateur champion Frankie Gavin, in Turin four years ago.

McCracken still needs to go some way to emulate that that, but he is clearly doing a terrific job.

My belief is that boxing and taekwondo (aka the way of the fist and the foot) will be among the big British hits of 2012.

And the biggest hit of all could be Joshua (pictured in red vest), the super-heavyweight boxer who is now well on his way to be coming a superstar.


There is only one problem. Will he be able to resist the flood of offers from ear-bending promoters urging him to turn pro before the Games?

The retirement this week of David Haye, himself a fellow World Amateur Championship silver medallist, leaves a charisma chasm in the home heavyweight division. Joshua, at 21, 6ft7in, strikingly handsome in the Ali mould and with a pleasantly engaging personality, is a promoter's dream.

Just over a year ago, when he had been boxing for merely two years, and had won the ABA title in his 18th bout, he received an offer of £50,000 to go pro there and then.

You can bet he could get ten times that amount now- but gold in London would be worth a couple of million.

Therein lies Big Josh's dilemma. Olympic gold would set him up for life, but there is always a risk. He could get injured or beaten and that world championship silver would lose its market value. .

It was a risk the then 17-year-old Khan was not prepared to take, cashing in his medal in return for a seven-figure cheque from Frank Warren.

However I am assured Joshua is committed to staying on for the London Games. "I didn't take up the sport to earn money," he insists. "I did it to wins medals. The thought of boxing in the Olympics gives me beautiful feeling."

So, beauty ko's booty?  We must hope Joshua really can resist any temptation to exchange his vest and head-guard for a pot of real gold.

For I am convinced he has every chanced of taking winning the Olympic title after dethroning the reigning, albeit ageing, Olympic and double world Roberto Cammarelle, an Italian copper, and then, by just a single point (21-20), losing in the final to home-town favourite Magomedrasul Medzhisov (a name that truly must twisted the tongue of the MC).

Had this fight, one of the best-ever seen in the amateur super-heavyweight division, been in London 2012 and not Baku 2011 there's no doubt Joshua would have got the decision.

I am not suggesting the result was dodgy, despite those allegations, now under AIBA investigation, of shady deals involving Azerbaijan that preceded these Championships.

The verdict was a close and controversial as that between DeGale and former amateur rivals George Groves here six months ago. You could argue it either way.

However here is no doubt the cards were stacked against Joshua. It was the final bout of the Championships and the Azerbaijani President was the, sitting alongside AIBA boss Dr  C K Wu, with 800 militia and thousands of fans desperate to see the tournament conclude with a gold medal for the host nation

No surprise then, that Medzhidov got the nod as Mr President warmly shook the hand of Dr Wu.

Joshua was gutted of course, though to his credit accepted defeat gracefully. But a star was born.

So whom is this latest sporting sensation?


Joshua (pictured) is the British-bon son of Nigerian parents, brought up in Finchley, North West London, where he is coached at the local amateur club by the former British featherweight champion Sean Murphy.

As a kid he was a talented footballer and ran 11seconds for the 100 metres when he was 15.

It is this fleet-footedness which helps make him special, a more nimble, less robotic version of Frank Bruno.

In boxing terms he is still a baby, but in his 29 bouts he has shown the vital commodities that make a potentially great heavyweight: balls and a good chin. Plus a decent punch.

"He's a real athlete and a tremendous prospect," say McCracken.

For boxing, London 2012 may well be much more than the Anthony Joshua Games, but few youngsters have progressed as rapidly. His improvement since being stopped in the European Championships last June has been remarkable.

Even more remarkable as earlier this year there was a good chance he would not make the Olympics, or any further international appearances after being suspended by the ABA, having been charged with a drugs offence - not the performance enhancing variety but possession of an illegal recreational substance with intent to supply. He was in danger of being kicked off the GB squad for good.

Joshua always protested his innocence, claiming he was set-up, and  the case appears to have been quietly dropped, much to everyone's relief.

For while he may not have the chat and chutzpah of Haye, here is a genuine heavyweight with a smile that could make him one of the poster faces of 2012. .

He may still be learning the ropes inside of them and out, but Anthony Joshua now has the world at his fists.

Alan Hubbard is an award-winning sports columnist for The Independent on Sunday, and a former sports editor of The Observer. He has covered a total of 16 Summer and Winter Olympics, 10 Commonwealth Games, several football World Cups and world title fights from Atlanta to Zaire