By Toby Nixon
2024 PARIS Olympian Delicious Orie will hope to get his professional boxing career off to a flying start when he faces Milos Veletic this weekend in Manchester.
The 27-year-old is set to debut with Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions on Saturday’s ‘Heavy Impact’ card, headlined by Joe Joyce vs. Filip Hrgovic.
Orie suffered a split decision loss to Armenia’s Davit Chaloyan in the last 16 of the Olympics. The Russian-born heavyweight was devastated by his Olympic performance, especially after clinching Super Heavyweight Gold at the 2023 European Games.
“I’ve let everybody down, I’ve let Great Britain down, I’m really upset,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live after his loss.
Still, he was snapped up by Warren in February this year to fight under the Queensberry banner, where he’ll be hoping to put that loss behind him with a debut victory as a professional.
The Commonwealth Games gold medalist is facing his first professional test in journeyman Veletic. The Bosnian boxer, 3-7 (1 KO), is no stranger to fighting on foreign soil, having previously fought—and lost—in the UK. Veletic has won just two bouts since 2019.
After Team GB stablemate Pat Brown debuted for Matchroom just last week against tough Argentine Federico Grandone (7-5-2), Orie becomes the next Olympian in line, looking to impress in the professional ranks.
While Orie is at the beginning of his journey, the night’s main event features a heavyweight looking to bounce back from draining defeats. Former Olympic silver medalist Joyce is in desperate need of a win after losing three of his last four bouts.
These three high-profile defeats came at the hands of Zhilei Zhang (twice) and veteran Derek Chisora. A win will be no easy task against ‘El Animal’ Hrgovic. The Croatian faces his former amateur rival, Joyce, looking to rebound after his defeat to the now-formidable Daniel Dubois last June.
The bout airs live on DAZN this weekend, part of a card featuring 10 other clashes. Orie’s ringwalk is expected at approximately 7:45 pm.
