Boxer Delicious Orie plotting next phase of life story at Commonwealth Games

Born in Moscow and raised in Wolverhampton, boxer Delicious Orie is plotting the next phase of his already-remarkable life story at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham next month.

The 25-year-old super-heavyweight, whose father is Nigerian and his mother Russian, arrived in the UK with his family at the age of eight, but only managed to beat the red tape to secure a British passport last year.

Despite fading memories and a fractured knowledge of the language, Orie still also holds a Russian passport and has reasons to be concerned with the continued aggression in the border regions and Donbas, where many of his extended family remain.

Orie’s grandmother and aunts live in Voronezh, some 200 miles from the Ukraine border, whilst his mother’s cousins and children live in Ukraine, close to the separatist region that it is predicted will become the next primary focus of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s continued assault.

“My mum has always told me that Russia and Ukraine are like brothers – they stuck together and had a very strong relationship – so what is happening now is devastating,” said Orie.

“It is breaking families and tearing them apart. My family are fortunately OK but it is a horrible situation. Most people out there don’t want what’s going on at the moment – they want unity. (But) you have a couple of crazy people at the top.”

Orie feared his delayed bid for a British passport would derail his hopes of reaching the Paris Olympics in 2024, but its arrival last year rubber-stamped his arrival on the GB podium squad in Sheffield, and he put it to good use with a bronze medal at last month’s European Championships in Yerevan.

Now Orie, who is one of a 14-strong England squad named for the Games, is determined to