While it is not unusual to hear that an amateur boxer about to turn pro has options from which to choose, rarely do these options include a completely new direction; a handbrake turn so sharp it would lead not only to whiplash but the end of one career and the start of another.
Then again, perhaps the difference between boxer and professional wrestler is minimal these days. Perhaps in recent years the lines between the two have blurred, with boxing veering more and more into pro wrestling territory and boxers in turn developing a kinship with their Lycra-clad counterparts.
Whatever it is, to hear Delicious Orie, Britain’s next heavyweight hope, reveal that he is considering a move to the WWE rather than turn professional as a boxer should be more surprising than it is. Suddenly, though, it seems almost sensible, at least to consider it, and logical for this option to now exist for a boxer in 2024.
Indeed, should Orie take up the WWE on their offer, he would not be the first to curtail a boxing career in favor of choreographed fights. Anthony Ogogo, another boxer who represented Great Britain at the Olympics, also made the same move, albeit his move to pro wrestling was largely the result of an eye injury he sustained while boxing.
In the case of Orie, the motivating factor here is quite different. Here, the motivation to wrestle is presumably to safeguard his future, lower the risk of damage, and express his personality, or a version of it, with the aim of becoming a star. It is a path not without its own difficulties, nor indeed the potential for damage, yet, when weighed up against all that is at stake when a boxer enters the ring, it is easy to see its appeal.
“I’ve been invited to potentially join the WWE, as mad as that sounds,” Orie said on Sky Sports’ Toe2Toe podcast. “I just went out there to see what it’s all about and it was a fantastic experience. I learnt so much over the few days I was there. It’s definitely something that I have got on the table as an option.”
Asked by presenter Andy Scott if the offer was serious, Orie then said, “It’s real. I got the message during the Olympic Games and at the time I wasn’t really looking at my messages or anything like that. I was purely focused on the Games.
“Afterwards I was on holiday and that was when I saw the message. Initially I just thought it was a scam. Then I looked more into it and it was legit. They said, ‘We see your potential and we would like to work with you.’”
Orie, born in Moscow, Russia to a Russian mother and Nigerian father, moved to England at the age of seven, later to settle in Wolverhampton. He was a good student, by all accounts, and graduated with a degree in Economics and Management from Aston University in 2020. He also boxed alongside his studies, winning gold medals at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and the 2023 European Games.
The big one, of course, was the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, with Orie tipped to go far in the tournament and bag a lucrative professional contract off the back of it. However, that dream would end in disappointment when Orie, one of the favorites, was beaten by Amenia’s Davit Chaloyan in the first round.
Now 27, Orie is a good age for a professional heavyweight, yet will no doubt feel that he has little time to waste. Had he a chunk of gold around his neck, his decision as far as turning pro would have been a quicker one, but still a decision will soon need to be made.
“Ultimately I do have a decision to make,” he said. “It’s not a decision I’m taking lightly. It’s something I’ve got to really take my time with. At the end of the day this will shape my whole career and influence it. It’s going to be huge.
“I’m at the stage now where I am waiting for the offers, including the WWE as well, and looking at the contract and seeing what is expected from me from the (boxing) promoters and the WWE side. I just want to have all the options on the table so I can then make my full decision. Whatever it is I decide to do, I’m going to put my 100 per cent commitment into it and will sacrifice everything to be the best.”
Although Orie speaks with a maturity and intelligence, and although he is sensible to assess his options and not count any out, one could argue, perhaps, that the answer for Orie lies in the very fact he is even taking the time to deliberate. In other words, given that the sport in which he currently competes is a sport rife with uncertainty and danger, surely the last thing you want is to be uncertain yourself or distracted by outside influences. It is, after all, neither a part-time job nor a hobby, this boxing lark. It is instead something that demands from its participants full commitment and focus. It is not something you choose to do necessarily, but rather something that chooses you; something you absolutely have to do.
For Delicious Orie, maybe there isn’t quite the same burning need or desire. Maybe, by virtue of him even considering another option, he has inadvertently arrived at his decision and should be led now as much by his gut as either his head or heart.
For all his talent, he won’t want to become the latest amateur star to turn professional simply because it is deemed the prescribed next step in a fighting life. Do that and you are falling into the trap of the student who enrolls at university without a clue as to what they want to study or do in the future. You instead go for the experience, then come away with that, a student loan debt, and potentially a drink problem, as well as the feeling of being even more lost upon graduating than you were when you enrolled.
Besides, if you don’t need to box, why on earth would you?