By Matt Slater

A fine fighter, "Boxing Bob" McCracken has built a great reputation as a coach

The rebuilding process at the top of British Olympic boxing has taken another step forward with the addition of Rob McCracken to the coaching team.

Three days after former world champion Richie Woodhall was announced as a consultant to the GB team, the highly-rated McCracken has joined him.

The 40-year-old is a former British champion and world title challenger.

After retiring with a 33-2 record in 2001, McCracken has coached top pros such as Carl Froch and Howard Eastman.

McCracken, who works for promoter Mick Hennessy, will continue to train the likes of Froch but will also now lend his expertise to British amateur boxing's elite squad in Sheffield.

"I am really looking forward to working with the GB squad," said McCracken, who lost his world title shot in a gruelling WBC middleweight bout with American Keith Holmes in 2000.

"I am impressed by their ambitious outlook and delighted to contribute to the success of the team. These are exciting times for boxing in both amateur and professional codes and I am thrilled to be part of both."

The signing of McCracken and Woodhall as coaching consultants is a real coup for the new body running the Olympic boxing set-up, the British Amateur Boxing Association (BABA), and a strong signal of intent.

The BABA regime got off to a shaky start as it struggled to deal with the fallout from a bitter split in British amateur boxing, the loss of most of its best boxers to the pro ranks and the sudden exit of Terry Edwards, the head coach who delivered Britain's best medal haul at an Olympics for 56 years in Beijing.

But the recent coaching appointments, coupled with the arrival of veteran coach Kevin Hickey as performance director in December and a large increase in the team's funding for London 2012, suggest BABA is finding its feet with the Olympics still three and a half years away.

And the BABA makeover of the Olympic programme is set to continue with adverts being placed on Friday for a full-time replacement for Edwards and another senior coach.

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