Down but not out – boxing heartbreak to wrestling hope

Anthony Ogogo quickly understood that the sport was his vocation, training regularly and climbing the ranks. A stickler for discipline, it was not long until Ogogo’s hard work paid off. He became national champion for his age category multiple times, and after three years he was selected to represent England at the 2004 Junior Olympics in Texas. It was a huge opportunity for Ogogo, who recalls that it was his first time he had travelled by air. Not only did he claim the gold medal, but Ogogo also clinched the ‘most outstanding boxer’ award at the tournament. For him, this was both a source of inspiration and a major turning point: what could he do if he fully immersed himself in the sport, and how far could he go? “From then I used to pester my coach to open up in the mornings before school, and I’d train after school…I was just obsessed”.

From this point on, Ogogo was keen to reach the top and claim Olympic gold. He hatched a plan to go to the 2011 European Championships to get seeded for the World Championships in October, with qualification for the 2012 Olympics as the eventual goal. His plan of action was scuppered when the opponent from the first round dislocated Ogogo’s shoulder, causing Ogogo to fight literally single-handedly and lose by a single point. He was then presented with a major dilemma.

Ogogo had to choose either immediate surgery and missing Olympic qualification which would risk his spot being taken by another athlete, or rehab the shoulder whilst running the risk that he would not be ready come October. If he failed to qualify in the first competition he would have less than 6 months to have surgery and rehab the shoulder to get back to ‘match fitness’ in time for the next qualifier. By avoiding sparring for many months Ogogo managed to rehab in time for the World Championships, however the injured shoulder re-dislocated in the second round. Although he managed to win some fights without the use of his left arm, his World Championships soon came to an end after losing by a narrow margin in the match which would qualify him for London 2012. His only option now it seemed was shoulder surgery, cutting a 12 month recovery time in half.

Ogogo was hellbent on reaching the Olympics. Despite the gruelling pain, glory was within reaching distance and he returned to the second qualifiers only to face the opponent who dislocated his shoulder in 2011. Having “seen red”, Ogogo came back from a 6 point deficit to win the match and qualify for the Olympics. It seemed as if the hardest part of the journey towards being an Olympian was over.

Whilst training in Sheffield with the GB team, Ogogo received a phone call from his sister who alerted him that his mother had suffered a brain aneurysm – it was touch and go whether she would make it. He quickly made the journey south to find her on life support, where she remained in a coma for months leading up to the Olympics – “For me, the Olympics had gone from the most important thing in the world to the least important thing in the world because my mum was about to die.”

As a result of the emotional turmoil Ogogo’s focus was severely disrupted. He considered skipping the Olympics altogether, fearful that his mother would pass when he wasn’t there. In the face of uncertainty, his sisters pleaded with him to go, reminding him that if his mother recovered she would be heartbroken if he had surrendered his Olympic dream. Knowing that his sisters were right, he returned to Sheffield for a week of training before dancing under the lights at ExCel London.

His first match ended 13-6, beating Dominican boxer Junior Castillo on the first day of competition. Though a strong win for Ogogo, he was still grappling with a broken rib, a badly damaged shoulder, a torn Achilles and the after-effects of a month off training due to spending time by his mother’s bedside. However, because he was not a seeded fighter Ogogo faced an ugly draw, meeting the world number one Ievgen Khytrov from the Ukraine (who could “punch like a horse”) very early on. Though Khytrov had not lost a fight in 2 years, Ogogo pushed through the pain of his shoulder and broken ribs to finish the fight on equal points. Waiting for the judges’ decision only lasted 5 minutes, but “felt like 3 years” for the boxers. The delivered verdict was that Ogogo was the more deserving fighter thus he advanced to the quarter finals, which The Guardian reported as ‘one of the biggest upsets of the Games’.

Beating Germany’s Stefan Härtel in the quarter finals, Ogogo faced Esquiva Falcão Florentino from Brazil in the semi final but lost 16-9, which saw him claim Bronze. Though proud of how far he had come despite the circumstances, Ogogo was disappointed that he could not claim gold at the games – “I should have won the gold medal because I was good enough to win the gold medal.” Reflecting back on his experience of the Olympics causes mixed emotions for Ogogo. He achieved the dream and proved many people wrong, yet it was also a time of turbulence as his mother was still in a comatose state. Thankfully, his mother recovered, and his decision to compete paid off after all.

Following the Olympics Ogogo decided to turn professional, but his career was plagued with injuries to his Achilles and the shoulder he dislocated during his amateur career. He recovered from these injuries slowly, but in 2016 he experienced a “freak punch” which resulted in a broken eye socket. What Ogogo did not know was that this would be his last ever fight, for the punch had shattered the socket into 8 separate fractures. In an attempt to save his career he underwent 9 operations and 2 injections on the eye and the socket over the next 3 years but to no avail. He became blind in his left eye, and had to throw in the towel once and for all.

Ogogo’s retirement in 2019 was filled with grief. Having boxed since the age of 12, he felt that he had lost his identity and felt “crestfallen”. When asked by an interviewer what he would do next he jokingly responded that he was considering becoming a wrestler, having been a fan of the sport. Little did he know that this was to become his next major step in his sports career.

Following the interview he flew to the USA, where he was offered a contract with All Elite Wrestling. Though he still feels that boxing was his true calling, he finds that wrestling scratches the itch, commenting that “It’s mad. [Wrestling] is completely different, but it’s also the same. It’s more entertainment driven, but it’s a unique industry. There’s nothing else like it. It’s the perfect combination of boxing, UFC and theatre. It gives me a chance to show my true showmanship.”

Now, Ogogo plans to take wrestling all the way and become world champion. The memories and training which he experienced in boxing have set him up perfectly to be an incredible fighter in an entirely new sport. “I’ve got loads to learn and loads of room to grow as a person and as a fighter” he says. Ogogo has not had it easy, but he is confident that this was his fate: “Right now, this is where I want to be”.