By Elliot Foster
Anthony Ogogo still has aspirations of becoming a world champion –– despite being registered blind.
The London 2012 Olympic bronze medallist was advised by several eye specialists to hang up his boxing gloves in the wake of fracturing his left eye socket.
But the 27-year-old, who suffered the injury on the same night as his first defeat last October at the hands of Craig Cunningham, is keen to make a return to the squared circle and fulfil some of the potential he carried into the paid ranks after the Olympics five years ago.
“I was told that by having my eye operated on that I could make it even worse,” Ogogo told the Lowestoft Journal.
“I said: ‘I don’t care – I want to be a boxer that much.’ It’s been the worst six months of my life but I can see light at the end of the tunnel.”
Ogogo has undergone two operations on his left eye after fracturing the socket in eight places, but he could yet be forced under the knife once more in a bid to resurrect his ring career.
“I was actually technically blind – I wasn’t allowed to drive – they took my licence away,” he continued.
“The double vision I had was so severe that I was registered blind. If I had applied for a blue badge I would have got it.
“I went to go and see 10 different eye experts to get to the bottom of the problem. It was such a bad eye injury, but I need to do this.
“I want that hard living. I want to go back to [the aforementioned Craig] Cunningham’s backyard and bash him up in front of his own fans –– the same ones that were booing me and calling me names.
“Whether you like me or loathe me, you’ve got to respect me and what I’ve been through. I know I can get to the top.”
In other news, Bray fighter James Cahill is to ditch the vest and start punching for pay at the tender age of 19.
The super-welterweight southpaw fights out of St Teresa’s, where he is a stablemate of fellow pro newcomer Regan Buckley, and further details regarding his bow in the paid code will be revealed in due course.
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