Brilliant Delicious Orie books his place at Paris 2024 with stunning win
An emotional Delicious Orie declared his dream had come true after qualifying for next summer’s Paris Olympics.
The Bilston boxer stamped his ticket on Friday night at the first available opportunity with a dominant performance to beat Bulgaria’s Yordan Hernandez in the European Games semi-finals and claim one of the two qualifying spots on offer in the super heavyweight tournament.
Orie faces Azerbaijan’s Mahammad Abdullayev in the final on Sunday with the chance to become European Games champion, a year after winning gold at Birmingham 2022.
But the biggest prize, which he had dreamed of since first taking up boxing at the age of 18, is already secured.
Orie said: “I’ve always had this dream and now I’ve got it. Working so hard. We’re there.
“Every single day I wake up in the morning before I go out on my runs, I think: ‘I am going to be an Olympian’. Today is the day. Hard work pays off.
“Every single day even when I’ve been at family functions, talking to my mom and dad about normal things, in the back of my head I’m thinking: ‘I’ve got to qualify for the Olympics’.
“This means everything to me. This is a day I will never, ever forget.”
Defeat to Hernandez would have left Orie, who was born in Russia and moved to the UK aged seven, waiting for next year’s world qualifiers to book his Paris spot.
But having come so far in a gruelling week of competition in Poland, the 26-year-old never looked like letting his opportunity slip. Hernandez, who stands at 6ft 8ins, was the taller man by two inches but was never allowed to make his size count.
Orie set his stall out from the opening bell and his jab was the dominant punch of the first round, flicking out with both speed and accuracy to frustrate his opponent, who also found the British boxer quicker and slicker when he rushed in to close the distance. A right, left, right combination from Orie which pierced the guard of his opponent was particularly eye-catching.
The second round was far scrappier with Orie’s jab less prominent but he was again able to produce the cleaner work.
Up by two rounds on all five scorecards, the only brief moment of alarm came early in the third when he was docked a point for illegal hitting. But Hernandez was also hit with the same punishment just seconds later and when a firm right sent the Bulgarian stumbling back in the closing seconds, resulting in the referee delivering a standing eight count, there was no doubt as to the identity of the victor.
Orie was celebrating well before his arm was raised. The tears were also arriving too, as the size of his achievement sunk in.
