THE man who has guided Amir Khan to an Olympic silver boxing medal could have made a rod for his own back!

Coach Mike Jelley can expect a influx of potential new members down at his Bury Boxing Club as youngsters keen to emulate the 17-year-old lightweight take up the sport.

But with limited space down at the club's base at the Seedfield Centre, Parkinson Street, Jelley will have to make contingency plans to accommodate any newcomers.

"I expect it'll go berserk for a few weeks and there's sure to be a lot of interest in the sport again," he said.

"It's a good thing for amateur boxing and it's nice that a lot of clubs around the country will benefit from the success Amir's had.

"But we only have so much space at our club and we can't exclude the lads who have been with me week in, week out over the past twelve months.

"It's something we are going to have to look at, we may have to tell any new youngsters to come back in three months time and see if they are still interested.

"Or I could take their names and addresses, contact them and invite them down to have a look at them."

Khan's achievements have given the amateur boxing game a big shot in the arm just when the sport needed it.

With the Bolton student the only Great Britain competitor in what has traditionally been a well represented sport, it's clear that something needs to be done nationally and Jelley believes he knows what it is.

He is convinced that the lottery funding made available to amateur boxing should be channelled towards the competitors themselves rather than the top heavy administration side.

Furthermore, he is going to tell representatives of the National Lottery and the Amateur Boxing Association in a meeting planned for next week.

"Too many people are on big wages and staying in top hotels while the lads doing the boxing are left to struggle," he said.

"It should be turned around the other way and maybe in the next Olympics in Beijing we could have five lads there and not just one.

"That's the reason why so many young boxers turn professional at 18, a lot of people don't know what is happening.

"Amir wants to stay amateur and I want him to do the same but the funding has to be right, there is going to have to be a lot of talking and discussion in the next few weeks.

"His family have spent tens of thousands of pounds in expenses, travelling, hotel bills and lost time through work to get him where he is.

"They deserve all they get and I hope they start to reap the benefits now."

Jelley was also unhappy at not getting a pass for the Olympics through the ABA and plans to have his say about that too.

"I had to go through the back door to get behind the scenes and I didn't like doing that," he said.

"I think I should have been invited by the ABA and they should have had the fight in them to get me in.

"Together, Amir and I have brought amateur boxing to life again in this country and they should be thanking us for that."