Tony Jeffries says domestic amateur boxing will suffer after Great Britain head coach Terry Edwards' contract was not renewed.

Jeffries described as "absolutely ridiculous" the news that 65-year-old Edwards, who led his team to their most successful Olympics in 56 years in Beijing last summer and was awarded the MBE last month, has been axed.

Edwards would not comment on the development on Sunday but it is understood he was told last week by Derek Mapp, head of the new British Amateur Boxing Association, that he will not secure a contract extension in March.

The news threatens to be just the start of the problems for the amateur sport with Edwards, in a separate issue, set to sue ABA chief executive Paul King over comments King made in a recent radio interview.

Meanwhile Jeffries has joined forces with gold medallist James Degale - both of whom have now turned professional - to launch his own legal action against the ABA over alleged unpaid bonuses next week.

Jeffries said: "I had my ups and downs with Terry but nobody can deny the work he has put in to improve amateur boxing, and to sack him now is just absolutely ridiculous.

"It was obvious while we were in Beijing that there were certain people who were intent on getting Terry out and it seemed they did not care if they had to undermine the boxers' success to do it.

"Terry would have had four years to get the Great Britain team in shape for 2012 and I believe he would have produced our best ever team. But now that Terry has gone it has got to raise a serious question mark."

Edwards' last act after returning from the Olympics was to lead Hull bantamweight Luke Campbell to the European title in Liverpool in November, securing a clean sweep of all major titles during his time in charge.

Despite his success Edwards' position has become increasingly untenable and the appointment last month of 67-year-old Kevin Hickey as performance director indicated his time was up.

Edwards will be replaced on a temporary basis by Kelvin Travis, the former England head coach who has been working closely with Audley Harrison throughout his professional career.

But it is believed Mapp has produced a shortlist of possible full-time replacements to work under Hickey, with former world super-middleweight champion Richie Woodhall heading the queue.