London 2012 Olympics: Great Britain are boxing clever in pursuit of podium places at Games Ellison, who came up with the idea and was given the go-ahead by performance director Rob McCracken, constantly monitors the fluctuations in the boxers" weights, comparing the figures against a graph of five-week targets pinned up on the wall of the gym. No boxer is allowed to be more than five per cent above their fighting weight - anyone who transgresses gets three warnings before being cut from the squad - and each week Ellison makes his scientific calculations and manipulates their portion sizes and the proportion of carbohydrate and protein. "I don't really know anything about Gavin because it was before my time, but I found it really easy to come in here post-Beijing and do exactly what I wanted to do," said Ellison. British Boxing have been absolutely brilliant with me. Everything that I've proposed from start to finish here has been embraced and driven by the coaches. I think Rob McCracken has had a big influence as a young, forward-thinking performance director. Making the weight: the special diet - All boxers are given three pre-prepared meals a day, plus two snacks - Breakfast is the largest medal of the day and is typically a 50-50 mix of carbohydrate and protein such as muesli with milk and eggs - Lunch consists of one-third slow-release carbohydrate, one-third proten and one-third vegetables - The evening meal is smaller, with a mix of protein and vegetables but a limited amount of carbohydrate Anthony Joshua, who as a super- heavyweight enjoys the biggest portion sizes and is in the unusual situation of trying to gain weight without losing mobility, is fully behind the programme. "With us, it's all about physical work, and you don't want to be finishing a hard run or a hard session and then having to cook things in the kitchen," he said. It makes it a lot easier if you can just pour it onto your plate and put it in the microwave. Light-welterweight Tom Stalker, who is ranked No 1 in the world, was part of the British Olympic squad before Beijing and can vouch for the difference in the way the fighters are now being prepared. "The bottom line is that if Rob McCracken had been in charge, Frankie Gavin would have made the weight," said Stalker. He would have been training in the gym a lot more and he would have been a lot more active after he qualified. He was our first ever amateur world champion, which was incredible, but he had a lot of pressure on him. But I think if Rob had been here, he would have approached the Olympics in a different way and he would have made the weight and would have gone on to win the gold medal. It was such a shame. The recriminations over the Gavin episode were exacerbated in Beijing when fellow British boxer Billy Joe Saunders was suspended after posting an obscene video of himself on the internet. The perception was that Britain's boxers were unprofessional and out of control. The current squad and their support staff are reluctant to criticise the old regime under former performance director Terry Edwards, but they do admit that things are considerably more disciplined now. The nutritional programme is just one aspect of a tightly controlled system introduced by McCracken to ensure his fighters maintain the highest professional standards. While in Sheffield, they live in apartments owned by GB Boxing where, in the entry lobby, there is a noticeboard giving details of their daily schedule along with a list of disciplinary dos and don'ts. There is even a dress code, with official kit to be worn at all times. "There is no bad behaviour tolerated here," said McCracken. They're in a privileged position. The public are paying for them to train and to try to achieve something in their lives. There's a code of conduct and nobody breaks it. It is an all-encompassing set-up that some elite athletes might find suffocating, but Ellison believes it is perfectly suited to the kind of athletes boxing attracts. "These lads love routine," he said. I think that's probably why many of them went through the door of a boxing club for the first time. They want some structure in their life and they want some routine. Stalker, who admits his life before boxing was a mess that led him into a world of "robbing cars," is a case in point. "We don't need anything here," he said. Everything is covered. All we've got to do is get into that ring. Everything else is there for us, so we're very lucky. A key member of the support staff is EIS performance lifestyle coach Dan Salcedo, whose role is not just to instil professional attitudes in the boxers but to equip them for life after boxing. The younger development squad combines training with an educational programme to qualify them as fitness instructors. "In boxing we are mainly talking about kids who come from inner-city backgrounds who frequent certain areas where they can get in trouble with the law," he said. We see it as a duty that we are able to send these lads on with a lot more than when they came to us. We have a very professional set-up here now. The boys are expected to be at the right weight all the time. They're expected to be presentable and to always wear the right kit and look the part all the time. When Rob first came in and the culture changed, some boys did find it hard to cope with because they weren't used to that. But it's critical in modern-day sport that we have that culture. Results in the ring are proof that it is working. When McCracken took over in November 2009, the British squad had just returned empty-handed from the world championships in Milan. Since then, male boxers from the GB squad have won two golds, six silvers and five bronzes at two European championships and one world championships, while the women have won a gold, two silvers and a bronze at a world and European championships. Five male boxers have already qualified for London, all of whom have excellent medal prospects, and more boxers can be expected to seal Olympic places over the next couple of months. McCracken says the secret is to create a disciplined set-up but also one that his fighters embrace and enjoy. "If you rule with a rod of iron, this generation is different," he said. But if you can get their trust, they are as good as gold.