Jack Goodwin

10:01am Wednesday 26th March 2008

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A RAISE of the hand from Jack Goodwin has helped set some of the world's top boxers on their path to super-stardom.

British lightweight sensation Amir Khan, Mario Kindelan - the double Olympic and triple World Champion - and Frankie Gavin, the first English boxer to be crowned a World Amateur Champion, are just some of the illustrious names to have served time in the ring with the 50-year-old Fulford-based former Army regimental Sergeant Major.

Goodwin's been a boxing referee for 25 years, and has been involved in the sport for three decades.

But despite having been one of the Amateur Boxing Association of England's (ABAE) top men for a decade, Goodwin is currently crossing his fingers tightly.

What can produce this in a man who, while in the Forces, saw six tours of duty in Northern Ireland and also served in Bosnia? Simple - the Olympic Games.

Only one boxing official from each nation gets to represent their country in an Olympics and Goodwin's name is now down on an English shortlist that contains just three.

He doesn't beat around the bush. Getting the Olympic gig would top a refereeing career which has taken in stops all over the world, most recently in Azerbaijan last year for the World Junior Championships.

It would even surpass refereeing Kindelan.

"It is a lifetime ambition," Goodwin said. "It was an absolute pleasure (to referee Kindelan).

"It is just a joy to referee and be involved with those type of people when they are household names and the career they've got behind them - it's an absolute joy and pleasure to be associated with them.

"When I think of the top names Kindelan springs to mind straight away but of the others, I have refereed a few Russians - Oleg Saitov, when I refereed him in Copenhagen a few years ago, was at the time the existing triple Olympic and World Champion.

"One of my lifetime ambitions was to qualify to get a world referee's licence. I achieved that three years ago and the next progression would be to the Olympics which would be absolutely superb.

"Although, of course, if I don't get it there will be another chance in London in 2012."

Becoming the distinctive man in white in the ring has proved to be an adequate compensation for a fledgling fighting career which was cut short as a young man.

Goodwin explained: "I boxed for a short time as a young lad but my eyesight prevented me from doing that any more," he said.

"I was short-sighted. I became a boxing coach, then officiated as judge and moved on to refereeing.

"It was a natural progression from starting off as a boxing judge; the next step is to become a referee.

"I did my refereeing qualifications in the Army to the highest level I could (a referee Grade 1) and when I left the service ten years ago I continued on the domestic circuit with Yorkshire.

"I am affiliated with the Yorkshire Amateur Boxing Association, also the Police Boxing Association of England and I am an England and International referee with the ABA."

If you think you've seen Goodwin's face somewhere before, you are right.

He was involved in ITV drama Soldier Soldier and has also appeared in every series of Lad's Army and Bad Lad's Army - the TV reality shows which sent conscripts back to a 1950s National Service regime in a bid to improve their fitness and, in the case of Bad Lad's Army, the attitudes of a bunch of petty thugs and criminals.

Goodwin said he found the whole thing very refreshing. "Having done 25 years in the Army it was refreshing to see the dramatic effect it had on these young lads and actually turning them round to become something they had never been in their lives," he added.

Out of the Army, Goodwin now works for West Yorkshire Police as an officer safety trainer - teaching old and new recruits how to defend themselves, use handcuffs and the other tools necessary for maintaining public order.

If Goodwin can get to Beijing, he will be alongside an English boxing contingent as big as the country has taken to an Olympic games for some years.

Four years ago, only Amir Khan achieved the standards required. This time around, Frankie Gavin will lead a gold-hunting outfit which already numbers seven fighters.

Goodwin says that's a fantastic achievement. "The profile has certainly been raised with the successes England have had at the recent Commonwealth Games and World Championships," he said.

"In addition, at an Olympic qualifying event in Italy, we have had another two boxers qualify for the Games. That brings the current total to seven which is an outstanding achievement for England and Great Britain."

And what of Amir Khan? According to Goodwin, the Olympic silver medallist in Athens is already proving his youthful promise on the professional stage.

"I think he has already highlighted how good he is. I knew him as a young lad - 13 and 14-years-old - and I refereed him on numerous occasions," he said.

"I have been abroad with him with England squads numerous times and he is just a cracking young kid. He was a young star in the making right throughout his amateur career and he is proving that in his professional career."

For now, though, thoughts and possibilities of Beijing are at the forefront of Goodwin's mind. He said: "There is potential that I may not go, which I will accept.

"It is certainly nice to be on the shortlist for it and to be selected for an Olypmic qualifier is a great achievement. If I don't get it I will look forward to London and 2012."