Sky Sports - Summer Olympics - Beijing 2008 - Sponsored by Puma

One of the closest contests to that resembling an ancient gladiatorial battle is the Olympic boxing tournament which in modern times has produced some of the best professional fighters on the planet.

286 fighters will enter the ring in 11 different weight divisions all searching to become the next big thing in boxing.

A limit of 28 boxers has been put on all weight classes apart from heavyweight and super heavyweight, limited to one per country per division, in what will be a straight elimination process.

No seedings or rankings are involved in the draw and competitors will just fight it out in bouts of four two-minute rounds with the winners then advancing to the next round.

Qualifying for the event came from the AIBA World Boxing Championships and then two Olympic qualifying events on each continent, with six places reserved for the host nation if they had not already qualified.

An electronic scoring system is used whereby only punches scored by three of the five ringside judges within a second of landing on the target areas around the head and torso will count towards a fighters' total - with the boxer with the most points at the end of the contest being declared the winner.

History

An integral part of the ancient Greek Olympics, boxing only emerged as a more formal sport with the Marquess of Queensberry's rules in the late 19th century setting out the guidelines that still govern the sport today.

Not in the original programme for the modern Games in Athens, boxing was introduced in St Louis in 1904 when host America claimed all the medals on offer - being the only country to enter a team.

Swedish law prohibited boxing from being included in the 1912 Games in Stockholm, but it has been a key part of the event ever since.

Notable dates include 1956 when the practice began of giving both losing semi-finalists bronze medals, while in 1984 the wearing of head guards became compulsory.

1984 also saw one of the more controversial moments in the event when a young Evander Holyfield was disqualified for flooring his opponent after the referee had called to break, but was later handed a bronze medal after the official admitted he was out of position.

Olympic Greats:

Part of the appeal of Olympic boxing is it's function as a breeding ground for future world champions in the professional ranks - with still the greatest fighter ever Muhammad Ali picking up a light heavyweight gold in 1960 as an 18-year-old named Cassius Clay.

Sugar Ray Leonard was a gold medallist in Montreal in 1976 at light welterweight, while brothers Michael and Leon Spinks won middleweight and light heavyweight respectively.

Two pound-for-pound champions appeared in the Games but failed to emerge with golds, and the two 'juniors' Floyd Mayweather and Roy Jones were both on the wrong end of dreadful judging decisions as they claimed just bronze and silver.

Oscar De La Hoya was indeed the 'Golden Boy' in Barcelona 92 when he conquered the lightweight division, and Atlanta 96 saw a huge fighter named Wladimir Klitschko walk away with the super heavy gold.

1998 saw a young Canadian by the name of Lennox Lewis beat American Riddick Bowe for the super heavyweight gold, and Lewis would later go on to unify the professional heavyweight division and become one of the best British boxers of all time.

Best of British:

Britain's 2008 contingent will have to go some way to emulate their counterparts of a century ago when all five of the boxing gold medals on offer in London 1908 went to the home fighters.

Popular names in the professional ranks such as Richie Woodall and Robin Reid won bronze medals in Seoul and Barcelona, but a 13th gold medal proved elusive for many years.

Audley Harrison finally delivered the first British boxing gold since 1968 when he won the super heavyweight title in Sydney in 2000, although his pro career failed to live up to expectations.

Precious teenager Amir Khan won the lightweight silver in Athens four years ago, only out-pointed in the final by Cuban star Mario Kindelan - but has shone so far in his professional career.

Ones to Watch:

Bradley Saunders (GB) landed a bronze medal at the World Amateur gold in Chicago and, with Frankie Gavin missing out with weight problems, he will now represent GB's best chance of a medal in Beijing.

The Russians hold a strong team all round but Italian super heavyweight Roberto Cammarelle could prove hard to beat in a tough division containing British giant David Price and Cuban Robert Alfonso Acea.

Pan American champion Emilio Correa Bayeux will be another medal hope for the ever-powerful Cubans.

Team GB:

Frankie Gavin - Lightweight

James DeGale - Middleweight

Tony Jeffries - Light heavyweight

David Price - Super heavyweight

Bradley Saunders - Light welterweight

Joe Murray - Bantamweight

Billy Joe Saunders - Welterweight

Khalid Yafai - Flyweight

Medal Hope - Bradley Saunders