The 22-year-old lightweight from Birmingham had become Britain's first world amateur champion in Chicago last year and was seen as a serious contender for the gold medal in Beijing.

 

The boxer, who could not make his weight class 60-kg limit, has left the team's preparation camp in Macau and will not go to Beijing, where the weigh-in and the draw will take place tomorrow, the British Olympic Association (BOA) said in a statement.

 

The boxing team's head coach Terry Edwards said: "It is the nature of our sport that we try and get our boxers to the top of their weight and it has been well documented that Frankie has struggled with this over recent months.

 

"Whilst the support staff down in Macau and I, have done everything we could, regrettably it is clear that Frankie will not make his weight before tomorrow morning's weigh-in.

 

"Frankie has been working his whole boxing career towards the Olympic Games and he is obviously completely devastated.

 

"I would ask that his privacy is respected during this difficult period and he is given the time to come to terms with the situation.

 

“He gave 110 per cent but if you understand the weight-making process it is the last bit, where you have to shed the water, that is crucial.

“In the climate in Macau he had obviously shed a lot of water and body fluid, and he then became extremely dehydrated.

“In the end there was nothing left to come off and at that stage I took the responsibility of withdrawing him simply because I didn’t want Frankie to suffer any ill-effects to his health from being that dehydrated. He needed to shed another three pounds and in the end that proved too much.

“We gave him the best opportunity, with a nutritionist, a physiologist, a sports psychologist.

 

"I have to say again, Frank gave us 110 per cent, as he always has done, and he was bitterly disappointed.

“I’ve worked with Frankie for the last eight years on the international scene and he showed great respect for my judgment.

 

"We’ve got a tremendous mutual respect and at the end I made the decision and he respected it.  

“Boxers of a certain age do not always hold their weight.

 

"You get more mature, you turn from a boy to a man, it goes with the territory.

“Frankie is a young lad. He’s 22.

 

"He’s been boxing at the same weight for four years and sometimes lads have to move up a weight, it’s as simple as that.

“It’s the hardest call I’ve ever made in my international boxing career and it’s emotional for me too.

 

"But I’ve now got seven boxers going into the draw tomorrow to compete in the Olympic Games.

“I now have to put my emotion away to concentrate and give all my focus to the boxers who are still in the competition.”

 

Gavin's withdrawal leaves the British team with seven boxers in the draw.

 

Four years ago in Athens, Britain's one-man team consisted of Amir Khan, who won a silver medal in the lightweight class.

 

Britain, whose last Olympic boxing title was won by super-heavyweight Audley Harrison in 2000 in Sydney, still have medal contenders in their squad, notably welterweight Billy Joe Saunders and super-heavyweight David Price.

 

Without Gavin, however, they might struggle to surpass their best result at an Olympics so far with two golds achieved by Terry Spinks and Dick McTaggart at the 1956 Games in Melbourne.

 

Edwards said: "My advice to him [Gavin] has been to take stock over the next couple of weeks and I will talk to him about his future as soon as I get home.

 

"Frankie is leaving a very talented group of boxers here in Beijing, and our focus has never faltered from making sure they have the best preparation and support to allow them to perform to the best of their ability in the Olympic boxing ring."