Delicious Orie ready to seize the moment in Paris 2024

On Monday evening shortly before 10pm local time, Orie will enter the ring at the North Paris Arena to face Armenia’s Davit Chaloyan in the first round of the Olympic super heavyweight tournament, kicking off what the Bilston ace has described as the ‘Grand Finale’ of his amateur boxing career.

Orie’s ambitions don’t end in France. Whatever happens tonight or the next two weeks, the 27-year-old wants to turn pro after the Games. Becoming world heavyweight champion remains the ultimate goal.

But the Olympics play a major role in a dream that was born less than a decade ago, when the then 18-year-old Orie watched Anthony Joshua win his first world title and a few days later walked into the Wolverhampton Amateur Boxing Club and asked how he had followed that path.

Born in Moscow to a Nigerian father and a Russian mother, his biggest fight in those early years, during a meteoric rise, took place outside the ring. It was a battle against bureaucracy and paperwork as he tried to obtain a British passport that would allow him to take the first step on his journey.

“I have to be honest with you, there were times when I thought this wasn’t going to happen,” he says.

“There were times when I thought, ‘What now?’ There were a lot of obstacles and I never had control over it.

“It was like, ‘You don’t have a passport, you can’t represent Britain.’ So what now?

“No matter how hard I worked at it, it didn’t matter. You think, ‘Do I go professional, or do I do something else?’

“I made sure I was disciplined, persistent and positive. I also had the right people around me, and Team GB who looked after me when it came to the passport situation.

“That’s what brought me here. This is my chance to thank you for all the hard work you’ve put into me.”

Orie has already repaid GB Boxing by winning gold on home soil at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham two years ago, when 4,000 fans went wild as he came from behind to beat India’s Sagar Ahlawat.

And then there was that fantastic victory at the European Games last summer, which immediately gave him a ticket to Paris.

In the run-up to the Olympics it was no surprise that Orie was getting so much attention and he rivals Adam Peaty as Britain’s most interviewed athlete. Everyone wants to talk to him, even the Prime Minister.

His background is remarkable, father Justin and mother Natalie moved with their young family to the UK when Orie was seven to escape racism in Russia. They settled in Bilston when he was 11 and for Orie that is home and a place he is proud to represent.

There’s more to his story, though. In every interview, Orie refers to the hard-working ethic his parents instilled in him. A keen academic, he holds a first-class degree in business and economics from Aston University and you suspect he would have excelled in whatever career he chose.

Deciding to take up boxing despite his parents’ insistence. Has that position changed?

“I would say so!” laughs Orie. “They will be there in Paris, 100 percent.”

Orie loves the spotlight, but also knows that being popular in the media means nothing once you’ve walked the ropes.

“It’s easy to get carried away and I sometimes find myself thinking, ‘Wow, the Olympics. This is something I’ve been dreaming about since I started boxing,’” he says.

“But then I catch myself putting myself down again and saying it’s just another fight and I’ve had many.

“I’ve done about 70 of them, so you have to go into it sober and do exactly what you’re told to do and you’ll be fine.

“These are the conversations I have with myself, keeping myself in check when I get carried away with winning that gold medal.”

There is pressure to perform and he knows it. Every time GB have sent a super heavyweight to the Olympics they have come back with a medal.

The draw could have been kinder. Chaloyan is a former world silver medallist, although Orie beat the Armenian on his way to winning the European Games. A repeat tonight would likely see a quarter-final with Kazakhstan’s Kamshybek Kunkabayev, who won bronze in Tokyo three summers ago. BBC pundit Steve Bunce described Orie’s path to gold last week as the toughest series of battles he has ever faced.

Still, Orie has faith in the system that put his predecessors on the podium, and in his proven ability to perform on the big stage.

“I feel like on every big stage, even at the national level, the ABAs, I’ve always given my best,” he says.

“I feel like I know I’m going to do exactly the same thing at the Olympics. I have so much confidence in myself because of the track record.

“I’ve been able to prove to myself time and time again that I can perform and I can deliver. So that’s what I’m going to do for the next week or so.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel pressure. I’m human.

“But with the Europeans and the Commonwealths I felt a huge amount of pressure. The Commonwealth Games were in my hometown so there was a bit of expectation for me as well.

“There was a lot of pressure. But looking at my track record, I think I handled it pretty well. Pressure is a privilege and something I take with both hands. I’m going to get involved and go for it.”