Despite the traumas, the poor judging and the nerves, Great Britain's boxers have done their bit for Team GB by beating their own medal target. James DeGale, the middleweight, produced a performance of calm authority yesterday as he guaranteed Great Britain their third medal in the ring when he joined David Price and Tony Jeffries in tomorrow's semi-finals after an 8-3 win over Bakhtiyar Artayev, of Kazakhstan.

Terry Edwards, the head coach, had set his team a goal of two medals when Frankie Gavin, the world amateur lightweight champion and the gold-medal favourite, was still on board. The loss of Gavin, when he failed to make the weight, seems a long time ago now.

It was in Munich in 1972 that Britain previously had three boxers through to the Olympic semi-finals. That trio of Alan Minter, Ralph Evans and George Turpin all lost, but there is every reason to believe that DeGale, Jeffries and Price will fare better.

Of his three wins so far in Beijing, yesterday's was DeGale's most impressive, as Artayev was not only the defending Olympic champion at welterweight, in his previous bout he had beaten Matvey Korobov, the world No1 from Russia. In Athens, Artayev won the Val Barker Trophy as the best boxer of the Games. DeGale remains standing from what appeared the toughest section of the draw.

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DeGale boxed mostly on the move but found Artayev a relatively easy target, picking up his first point with a long left in the first round and opening a three-point lead in the second. As Artayev rushed in trying to bridge the deficit, the Briton kept his composure and picked off the Kazakh.

“We've got three medal-winners and I think we can get two golds,” DeGale said. “I am happy for the team, I'm happy for Terry. People don't give him enough credit but he's a really good coach.

Of the three semi-finalists, DeGale, in particular, has been a revelation. He had earned himself the unwanted reputation of a man who failed to deliver on the big occasion, but the 22-year-old has shone here.

“When I was beaten in the Commonwealth Games, I was still a baby,” he said. “I was beaten in the first fight at the Europeans and the Worlds, but everything is coming into place now.”

Edwards knows it is part of his job to keep DeGale's mind on the task at hand. “One of the problems James has had is that when he gets ahead, sometimes he switches off,” Edwards said. “I don't think that's going to happen Friday, the stakes are too high.”

DeGale faces Darren Sutherland in the semi-finals, who became Ireland's third guaranteed medal-winner when he beat Alfonso Blanco Parra, of Venezuela, 11-1. DeGale has faced Sutherland several times, beating him in the Olympic qualifying tournament in Pescara, Italy, in February, but losing in the final of the European Union Championships in Cetniewo, Poland, in June.

“He's 4-1 ahead against me, he's a tough opponent,” DeGale said. “But they were all really close fights and two of his wins were in Ireland. This time I'm going to use my brain. With the skills I've got, I should beat him every day. It's amateur boxing, it's hit, move and don't get hit - and that's what I'm good at.”