One of the United Kingdom’s heavyweight hopefuls, Delicious Orie, will make his professional debut on Saturday at Manchester’s Co-op Live Arena.

The 27-year-old wasn’t the most naturally gifted of fighters, but he transformed himself into one of Britain’s best amateurs. Orie, a member of Team GB’s decorated boxing squad, collected bronze and gold medals at the 2022 European Championships and Commonwealth Games.

Those medals secured his place at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where he aimed to follow Audley Harrison, David Price, Anthony Joshua, Joe Joyce and Frazer Clarke in winning Olympic medals at modern-day Games. 

Orie, perhaps heartbreakingly, lost a controversial split decision to France’s Davit Chaloyan, and he returned home without a medal – something that still haunts him today.

“Every day I think about not medaling in the Olympics,” Orie told BoxingScene. “It's because I set myself a goal, which the minimum was to win a bronze medal. That was the absolute bare minimum. But it's probably my fault, the fact that I'm going to live with this, is because what I've set for myself – the goal I set for myself – is external. It's an external goal.

“It was nothing, don't get me wrong; I had some influence and I gave everything I could. But at the same time, it was an external decision that wasn't anything to do with me. So, as a result, I need to make sure that I don't take it too hard. 

“But I feel like maybe it's a little bit too late, because it's something that I think about quite often. And the reason why it hurts is because I know that I'll never box and do it again in the Olympics, and represent Great Britain in the Olympics. For me, I only had one shot and that was it. So, it's something that I will learn how to live with.”

Although Orie returned home from the Olympics empty handed, he was not short of offers to turn professional. Every promotional outfit in the UK wanted to add the young man, who is as pleasant and well spoken on camera as he is in person, to their roster. Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions won that battle, but Orie nearly had his head turned away from the sport altogether by an offer he did not expect to arrive. 

World Wrestling Entertainment, or the WWE as it is widely known around the world, were so impressed with Orie’s personality and athleticism that they wanted him to join them out in the US on a full-time basis.

“It was a real thing and I was offered a contract,” Orie explained. “I went out there for a couple of weeks and I absolutely enjoyed it. I loved it so much. It was Florida; it was wonderful. The Performance Center out there was amazing. I got looked after and I just loved the training and just the way that the athletes were. It felt like a good family community. 

“I'll be honest, I considered it. I was thinking about it because it's an offer that I would have never thought that I would have gotten. So, it took me a good few weeks to really go understand why. ‘What's the reason for why I want to do what I want to do?’

“I had thoughts to myself thinking, ‘Alright, when I'm old’ – hopefully, if I get to that age, I'll look back and think to myself, ‘Am I happy with the way I'm fulfilled?’. I wouldn't say happy but fulfilled with what I've done in my able days, let's say. And I do genuinely believe that boxing is what would really make me feel fulfilled.

“Whatever it is I've got to achieve, I've got very, very high ambitions and goals but the most important thing is I've got to make sure I give absolutely everything and I'm doing that right now. So, as long as I do that, when I'm an old man, I can look back and think I'm fulfilled; I'm happy; I can die a happy man. So, boxing was my choice. It was my choice of pain.”

Orie just could not turn his back on the sport that drew him in at 18 years old. Boxing had begun to grow at a rapid rate in Britain back thanks in part to Joshua’s rise. Orie was one of many youngsters to watch Joshua and be tempted into the boxing ring.

“Boxing was my calling,” Orie said. “I believe Anthony Joshua indirectly spoke to me. I was basically inspired by him in 2015 and that's when I decided to take it to another level. I'd seen him on TV and I was like, ‘I want to do what he's doing; what he's done’. I found out he started boxing at 18. I was like, ‘Right’, packed my bags and went to the nearest shop that sells boxing gloves. ‘Let me go to a boxing gym’.”

Orie was not only impressed with Joshua’s devastating knockouts in the ring, but how he carried himself and treated those around him outside of it.

“This is something that I want to hopefully one day replicate,” he said. “I don't know if I will, but that's one thing I aspire to do. How he carries himself inside and outside the ring professionally is what I aspire to do as a professional boxer.”

Orie one day wants to emulate Joshua and help other youngsters around the world to achieve their dreams. As a young child growing up in Russia he felt hardship, and he wants to make sure opportunities are given to all of those who seek it.

“This is the second reason why I'm doing it,” he said. “My first reason is to make sure I look after my family. The second reason is to make, especially the young adults and children living in the UK and all over the world – if I've got that reach, potentially one day – to make them know and believe that it's very much possible to achieve great things. They've got the opportunity to in a country like the UK.

“Growing up in Russia, I felt hardship and I felt that lack of opportunity. So, as a result, it's very, very important to inspire. I was just, I grew up – born there, born in Moscow. And I was just a Russian kid, you know. I speak in Russian; just standard. But I felt a sense of hardship from my parents. I also felt a bit of heightened responsibility that I needed to find out ways to make sure that I provide for my family from such a young age.”

There is no doubt that Orie has ambition and desire, and although the heavyweight only makes his debut on Saturday, against the 27-year-old Milos Veletic of Bosnia and Herzogovina, he already has plans and a timeframe in which he wants to reach the pinnacle of the sport.

“World champion level, I'll say probably, the way I'm looking in my mind, if you want real numbers, I'll say 32, 33 years old,” said Orie. “I hope to be a world champion, maybe earlier. You never know. See how it goes. But in my mind, I would want to be a world champion in my early 30s.”