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McDonald’s employee turned boxer Delicious Orie on snubbing WWE to signal with Frank Warren

British boxing star Delicious Orie had the chance to swap the sweet science for suplexes in professional wrestling but he’s now signed with Frank Warren

Delicious Orie
Delicious Orie could have two careers in the ring(Image: PA)

Delicious Orie turned down WWE to stay in boxing because he feared taking the easier route might have left him feeling depressed.

The British heavyweight star has penned a long-term contract with Frank Warren and Queensberry Promotions after snubbing offers from rival promoters. But Orie, 27, also turned down a career as a wrestler after an approach from the sports entertainment giants.

Daily Star Sport revealed last year that Orie had travelled to Florida to sample life on the WWE NXT programme. But despite enjoying his trip to the States and serious considering a different ring career, the 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallist and 2024 Olympian is staying in boxing.

He said: “It’s very tempting. The fact you can still earn very good money if you get to the Raw or Smackdown level, that superstar level.

“The mind naturally was to pick something easier, the easier route, that’s something my brain is wired, everyone’s brain is wired. I remember starting boxing and how difficult it was and I’ve always chosen the difficult path. I think it might have been a subconscious thing to pick the difficult path.

Delicious Orie
Delicious Orie received a shock invite to work with the WWE(Image: WWE NXT)

“I think that this career, the primary career as a boxer, will be a lot more fulfilling for me than the wrestling. You do have to work hard as a wrestler to get to the very top but I think boxing is a lot more fulfilling for me if I go out there and achieve great things.

“Maybe was a subconscious decision to pick something harder. I feel if I went out there and did that [wrestling] as my base, I would fall into some sort of depression or something.

“It would have been ‘you’ve sold yourself well too early and you’re still more than capable at 27, fit and healthy with years of peaking and decided to sell yourself early’. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself to be honest.”

A dejected Delicious Orie reacts to his defeat
Delicious Orie won Commonwealth gold for England in Birmingham

But Orie has revealed WWE have left the door open and would welcome him back in the future if boxing doesn’t work out or if he decides on a career swap. Now the focus is preparing for his professional debut and the Birmingham-based boxer, who moved to the UK as a child with his Nigerian father and Russian mother, will train under Grant Smith in Sheffield.

Orie turned to boxing only at 18 when his hopes of a career as a basketball player were stunted by a struggle to get a British passport. But he juggled the sport with an economics degree at Aston University and part-time work in places such as McDonald’s, Sports Direct and as a bouncer.

Then he was picked up by GB Boxing who helped him earn the right to represent his new homeland which he did as he won European bronze, Commonwealth gold and boxed at the Paris Olympics. Now he’s looking to build steadily in the professional ranks before going for world honours.

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He added: “Of course the track record of Queensberry is building their fighters properly and steadily. I am a slow and steady learner. I will get there, I just need time to get there.”