The Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) may decide to bring another set of foreign coaches as it tries to find the right formula in its bid to win a gold medal in the 2012 London Olympics.

If the ABAP decides to hire new coaches, the Cubans currently handling the pool of national team aspirants may have to go when their contracts expire at the end of the year.

Since the early 90s, the country’s top amateur boxers have been trained by Cubans whose best result has been a silver medal won by Onyok Velasco during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

But it has been a downward spiral since then and no Filipino boxer has won an Olympic medal despite massive technical and financial support from various sectors.

Now ABAP is looking for a new direction in search of the elusive gold medal in the London Games and executive director Ed Picson said they are weighing their options especially on the coaching side.

Picson said an American and a Bulgarian coach have offered their services to train the RP team. This offer will be discussed soon by ABAP officials led by its president Ricky Vargas.

“The possibility is there,” he said about changing coaches. “We’re looking at what has happened to our boxing team for the past year under Cuban coaches,” Picson said.

The RP boxing pool is currently being trained by Brazilian coaches Enrique Steyners Tissert and Dagoberto Rojas Scott who have been with the team for more than a year.

Their contracts had lapsed since January but Picson said ABAP has been extending their contracts on a month-to-month basis due to their positive effects on the squad.

Meantime, the two Cuban coaches will accompany the RP squad when they go to Havana to train.

The fate of the Cuban coaches will likely be determined by the performance of the RP team during the World championship in Milan next month and the Southeast Asian Games in Laos in December.

“Maiiwan sila (the Cubans) doon because they didn’t get the one-month vacation that is stipulated in the contract. ABAP is still looking at extending or terminating their contracts depending on their assessment,” Picson said.