Paris Olympics 2024: A boxer called Delicious, ‘Supermum’ returns, a miracle comeback and more – GB’s new boxing squad | Olympics News

Following in the footsteps of brilliance was always going to be a tricky assignment for the next generation GB boxing team.

At the Tokyo Games in 2021 an outstanding squad of British boxers won six medals, including gold for Lauren Price and Galal Yafai, silver for Ben Whittaker and Pat McCormack and bronze for Karriss Artingstall and Frazer Clarke.

They comprised Britain’s most successful Olympic boxing team in a hundred years.

A tough act to follow will be even tougher for an almost entirely new squad. The small, inexperienced group had to be fast-tracked in an Olympic cycle shortened by a year due to the pandemic and postponement of Tokyo 2020.

But, after progressing through the fiercely demanding qualification tournaments, the six boxers who will don the GB vest in Paris all have lofty ambitions for themselves and all have followed a unique path to reach this point. Read our guide to the new-look boxing team below:

Delicious Orie (92&kgs)

A super-heavyweight always draws attention, as does a boxer called Delicious. Combine those elements with Orie’s unique backstory and he has all the elements to become a star. That, though, is predicated on medalling in Paris in a division which will see the reigning Olympic champion, the fearsome power-punching southpaw Bakhodir Jalolov from Uzbekistan, return to Paris 2024 to defend his crown.

Orie had hard bouts to set up his date with destiny in France, and an even harder battle outside the ropes. He was born on the outskirts of Moscow to a Russian mother and Nigerian father. When he was just eight years old his parents moved to seek out opportunities in England. A boy called Delicious who could only speak Russian – that set him apart but as child he never showed any interest in actually fighting.

His family moved to Birmingham and he graduated from Aston University with a first class degree in economics.

Originally a basketball player, he was inspired by Anthony Joshua to take up boxing. But he hit a roadblock after winning the national championships. To realise his Olympic dream and box for GB he had to resolve his citizenship status and get a British passport. He managed to do that just in time to box internationally and earn a qualification spot for Paris.

“In my opinion it gives me that little bit of edge. I didn’t just struggle to get on the podium side of things, just getting through the doors of the boxing gym in Sheffield was an ambition in itself for me,” Orie told Sky Sports.

“It was up to three years of difficulty and suffering. For me, it gives me that extra edge that I know that I deserve to be where I am today.”

Winning the European Games in 2023 also secured him a No 2 seeding in Paris and is a marker of his capabilities.

“It’s all about maintaining belief. I’ve been on a real mental journey in the last year, ups and downs,” Orie said.

“There’s been times when I’ve had injuries, niggles and I’ve had to hold back. There’s times where I didn’t have good spars, I didn’t have good fights, but I’m coming to a realisation that in order to be a top level athlete, that one per cent of the one percent, you need to go through these things. These are the tests that I believe I’m going through. The trials and tribulations I’m going through right now. It just makes that victory that little bit sweeter for me.

“This is what it’s all about, the level I’m on now is the pinnacle so it’s only right for me to face the best and I’m really looking forward to it.”

Charley Davison (54kgs)

“Supermum” Charley Davison is the only returning Olympian on this British boxing team. She picked up that nickname ahead of the Tokyo Games when, after three children and seven years out of the sport, Davison returned to boxing and became a surprise selection for GB ahead of the qualifier in 2020. But she excelled, winning a place at the Tokyo Games where after an opening bout victory she lost to China’s Yuang Chang.

At the last Games she was an unlikely Olympian, but now after a move up from flyweight to bantam, going unbeaten so far in 2024, with the added satisfaction of a couple of revenge wins over Chang too, Davison has transformed herself into a real medal contender.

Her family, and time she has to spend away from her children, compels her to succeed. “I’ve got more to fight for,” Davison told Sky Sports.

“When it gets tough in the ring or in training, they’re always in my mind and that gives me that extra drive to push forward, push on and get more out of it.

“I have to make every second count. I think that’s how I’ve become mentally strong. I know that when I go to tournaments, do training camps, I spar these other countries, I know that I’ve got to make every single second count.”

As glorious as winning an Olympic medal, Davison knows precisely how grim it is to return from a Games empty handed.

“That feeling I never want to feel again. Felt so lonely, lost, it was horrible, hard,” she said. “I got home, settled with the family, got my head back on my shoulders and said look, I’m not done yet. I felt inexperienced, I felt as if the whole event got to me and I knew I had more to show so I dusted myself off and got back in the gym.”

This time Davison is confident it will be different. “I’ve been to a few tournaments now and won gold. I feel a new boxer. I feel more myself. I’m able to use my skills and not just concentrate on the weight like I was at 51kgs. I’m a better fighter, a better boxer and looking forward to Paris,” she said.

“I’m yet to be beat [this year] so long may that continue into Paris.

“I’m on a good roll.”

Pat Brown (92kgs)

So much more goes into Olympic boxing than simply the need to have punch-power. Speed, skill, technique, split-second adjustments, tactical nous, to name a few, are just some of the qualities the competitors will need in Paris. That being said, still everyone also loves to see a display of heavy-hitting and that is something Pat Brown can certainly deliver.

The Mancunian started out at Sale West, Ricky Hatton’s amateur club, before moving to Moss Side Fire, a great community gym, and likes to bring a Hattonesque all-action approach to his boxing.

Orie can confirm his team-mate has heavy hands – though Orie is a super-heavyweight, Brown knocked out his tooth in sparring.

Brown doesn’t rely on his power, but he also can’t help it. “I punch hard even when I try to punch soft,” he says with a smile.

But he is relatively new on the GB squad and is having to make up for a lack of major tournament experience.

His division, called heavyweight, is 92kgs and the equivalent of professional cruiserweight. Medalling will be tough, Ireland’s Jack Marley, Spain’s Emmanuel Reyes, among others are all real threats and in this weight class Cuba’s brilliant Julio La Cruz, a five-time World gold medallist, will be looking for his third consecutive Olympic gold medal.

Brown might not be widely touted as a potential medallist but that doesn’t mean he won’t have an impact on the tournament.

“I’ve always been under the radar and I’m happy to be that way. Everyone there, they know what I bring and they know that I’m a danger for everyone. I believe I can get a medal and as long as I believe it I don’t mind what anyone else thinks,” he told Sky Sports.

“I operate in the shadows but when the time’s right people are going to know what I bring to the table. They know I’m going to be an exiting fighter and I can’t wait to express that.”

Rosie Eccles (66kgs)

The Welsh welterweight suffered heartbreak when she missed out on qualification for the last Olympic Games.

“I thought: ‘How am I going to come back from this?’ It just felt like it was all falling apart,” Eccles recalled. “It does also make you realise how much you really, really want something and it was worth me staying on another three years and digging in and hoping I could change the tide.”

She’s had further setbacks, contracting Covid left her in severe pain and without function in her arm and neck – obviously a major issue for an elite boxer.

“I actually thought it was going to be career ending because I just couldn’t see it getting better and the pain was excruciating,” she revealed. “The first time I woke up with quite a small pain in my neck after being quite unwell, obviously with Covid and within a week that had spread into my arm, I was in agony and I started to lose function in my arm.

“I also lose function in my neck so it actually becomes too dangerous for me to spar.”

She added: “We’d hoped that what happened in 2020 was a one-off, a freak thing where the virus attacked my nervous system and the nerves of my body. Obviously we’ve learned for some reason that’s not a freak thing with me and Covid just likes to attack my nerves. We’ve had three more bouts of that since which has been really difficult.

“I’ve won Commonwealth gold for Wales despite that and went on and qualified for the Olympic despite that.”

It’s a mark of her own determination that she’s steered through those crises to win her place at these Olympics. At her best Eccles is a strong, pressure fighter and she intends to bring all her quality to bear in Paris.

“I’ve had experience where I’ve had real bad hardship and I’ve come back and I’ve performed and pulled out the goods when it matters. That gives me a nice sense of confidence that anything can happen going into the Olympics but I feel like no matter what, I can deal with it,” she told Sky Sports.

“There’s no point doing something by halves, if you’re going to turn up, show up and train hard. I am relentless in training and similar to what people would say, I’m relentless in the ring. I couldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t give my all all the way through.”

Lewis Richardson (71kgs)

Colchester’s Richardson defied all the odds just reach this event. He was a middleweight, a tall, thin one too, but when his weight class was removed from these Games he elected to drop four kilos to light-middle.

He’a taken on top class opposition on his road to Paris and he secured his place at these Olympics at the last-chance qualifier in Thailand in June.

“I’ll be an Olympian forever,” Richardson told Sky Sports. “I’ve had disappointment and adversity along the way but come through in the end. Better late than never.

“I created that path for myself, although I’ve had such a vast array of support along the way, from me dropping from middleweight down to light-middle to pursue that Olympic dream and explore every possible avenue I feel like I’ve created that path which I’m super-proud of and thankful for everyone else who’s helped along the way. It just feels amazing to really get over the line.”

For these Games in the men’s sport the welterweight and middleweight divisions have been combined into 71kgs. It will be a monstrously tough weight class.

“Boxing purists know the welterweight and middleweight divisions have always been the most talented group of athletes because the average man is weighing around that sort of weight,” Richardson said.

“So make no mistake it’s going to be a very challenging division but I believe I’m up there with the best in the world.”

Chantelle Reid (75kgs)

Of all the comeback stories at these Games, Reid’s is one of the more remarkable. She was kept out of the sport for six years due to a condition in her back when she was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease.

She is a recent inclusion on the GB squad, only returning to compete in the domestic championships last year. But she managed to win selection for the international team and fought her way to an Olympic place with three victories at the second qualification tournament.

“In the space of 12 months everything’s gone so quick for me,” she said. “I got diagnosed with degenerative disc disease when I was about 18. I had six years out and I came back last January with my dad just aiming to win the championships. Now we’re here training for the Olympics.”

And she warned: “I haven’t done all this hard work to go there and come back with nothing. I can’t see myself coming away without that gold medal.

“It is possible. All my dreams are coming true right now and I know that getting a gold medal is possible.”

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