Before making it to AEW in 2019, Anthony Ogogo was an accomplished Boxer, having won Bronze at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London.
Unfortunately, three years earlier, a fight with Craig Cunningham for the vacant WBC International Middleweight Title resulted in Ogogo suffering a fractured eye socket.
This injury resulted in Ogogo being registered as blind in one eye, and ultimately led to his retirement.
Watching the Dream
Before his retirement, Ogogo had remained hopeful that he would box again, but for the time being, had to watch others live his dream.
Speaking to the Metro UK newspaper, Ogogo explained how it felt seeing others going on to boxing success while he had to wait and hoped for recovery.
“It sounds horrible, but it was like watching another bloke have sex with your missus. Being handcuffed to your seat and not being able to do anything about it.”
Ogogo spent over £100,000 (over $117,000) on surgeries in the United States hoping to fix his eye.
After Retiring
In March 2019, nearly two-and-a-half years after his last fight, Ogogo confirmed that he had retired from boxing.
Even now, Ogogo struggles to enjoy boxing, and was in a very bad place at the time of his retirement.
“When I first retired, I was sick of the sight of boxing. Hearing the word boxing made my skin crawl, I got so angry, so bitter, so aggressive. I became a person I didn’t want to be.”
“Hearing the word boxing made my skin crawl.”
Anthony Ogogo
Moving On
Ogogo still struggles to think about boxing, but as he told the Metro UK, he is improving.
Realizing the bad head-space he was in, Ogogo worked on moving on from his former career.
“I started to realize it’s not just my dream, it’s their dream too. I had to let it go and walk away. Boxing made me feel sick to my stomach when I knew I couldn’t do it anymore. I’m not quite there yet and I’m not going to torture myself by going to fights. But I’m getting there.”
“I had to let it go and walk away.”
Ogogo on realizing that he had to let Boxing go.
AEW and Finding “Fun”
Nowadays, fans can find Ogogo in AEW, which he said has become a much better place for him.
Comparing Boxing and wresting as “chalk and cheese,” Ogogo said that unlike his previous career, working in AEW is fun.
“What I love about wrestling, it is fun… Professional boxing ain’t fun. It is great when you win but no boxer can honestly tell you it’s fun. I was never laughing at that 1000th sit up of the day.”
Ogogo’s most recent match saw him defeat Luke Kurtis on the August 21, 2022 tapings of AEW Dark.
