The former British Sports Minister, who has twice threatened to resign in the past, is facing pressure to follow his good friend Derek Mapp, who was forced to step down as chair of the British Amateur Boxing Association (BABA), out of the sport.

An ABAE source told insidethegames that there are currently calls for an Extraordinary General Meeting, which is scheduled to take place on October 5, to be brought forward to oust Caborn, with 10 regions to two requesting his removal.

The move comes as the ABAE continues a process of modernisation, led by Caborn himself, to protect its £5 million ($8 million/€6 million) Sport England funding, which it came dangerously close to losing after the body said it had "significant concerns" about the governance of the association.

The ABAE is also working to alleviate the situation it currently finds itself in with the International Boxing Association (AIBA), which in July imposed a provisional suspension on the English body for "serious breaches" of its regulations, which ironically included taking advice from Sport England.

AIBA subsequently lifted the ban earlier this month but gave ABAE just over a month to launch a "reform process" to prevent any further action.

Caborn dismissed the claims questioning his future at ABAE and instead chose to focus on the developments made by body to safeguard the future of grassroots amateur boxing in England.

"The most important thing for the sport is that we continue to progress with the process of modernising the ABAE and put in place the new constitution and Board which has been endorsed by Sport England and, most importantly, voted for by an overwhelming majority of the ABAE's membership in a recent ballot," he told insidethegames.

"The process of selecting the new ABAE Board, on skills-based criteria, is nearly complete and we should be able to announce the names of the new directors shortly.

"The process has attracted a substantial number of high quality candidates with extremely relevant skills.

"I am hopeful that once the new Board is established that we will have the right people and structures in-place to move the ABAE forward to the benefit of boxing clubs and the people and volunteers that do such a great job at the grassroots of the sport."

While it is hard to predict what implications the axing of Caborn could have on the sport of amateur boxing in England, the removal of Mapp at BABA sparked widespread disapproval - even AIBA President C K Wu expressed his "huge disappointment" at the move.

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