Anthony Ogogo: Boxer turned wrestler on AEW Wembley show

Anthony Ogogo made the switch to wrestling after retiring from boxing

He won an Olympic medal at London 2012 and fought professionally in all the major UK arenas and in Las Vegas - but never at Wembley Stadium.

Former boxer Anthony Ogogo will be able to cross that off his wish-list on 27 August when he appears in All Elite Wrestling's (AEW) first major overseas show outside North America.

"We're going to sell out Wembley Stadium, 90,000 people plus will be there. It's the first time I've wrestled on a massive scale in the UK - I can't wait to come back [for it]," Ogogo told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"And the great thing is I'm a bad guy when I wrestle in the US. In the UK I'm a good guy so it'll be nice to get cheered instead of booed."

AEW was founded by Shahid Khan, also owner of Fulham football club, and his son Tony in 2018.

Ogogo, now 34, joined the promotion in October 2019, having had his dreams of boxing glory ended by eyesight problems, when he was described as "our first developmental project".

He lives in the USA, but believes growing up in the Suffolk town of Lowestoft was the inspiration for his success on both combat sports.

• 'When I started boxing I was an angry little boy'

Ogogo said of the town he still regards as home: "The main challenge coming from Lowestoft was that since being a young boy, I've always wanted to do something great with my life.

"I wanted to achieve something great and I wanted to inspire people and it's very hard to be what you can't see. People coming from Lowestoft don't do things on an international stage, on a world level. It's a small town, so it's hard.

"But that's the thing about life, if you want something bad enough, you find a way. If I was from a big city like London or Birmingham or Manchester, the path would have been much easier for me."

Anthony Ogogo was a contestant on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing in 2015

Ogogo was subject to racism "especially in the form of ignorance" as a boy and this helped fuel his desire to make something of himself.

"Small town, East of England, it didn't get a lot of diversity, so that was difficult growing up," he said.

He also believes that building a reputation in boxing when based at a small club in Lowestoft was another hurdle he had to overcome.

"The junior Olympics in 2004 and they picked someone I was better than. He was from a big boxing club up in Newcastle. There'd been tons of English champions from his boxing club, there was nobody from Lowestoft, nobody," he recalled.

"Then he couldn't make the weight so I got called up, I went to America and won a gold medal and the most outstanding boxer of the tournament award.

"That showed it's not about where you're from or where you've been been, it's about where you're going. To be successful in life, you've got to believe you can do it and you've got to work hard."

Ogogo's amateur boxing career was crowned by a bronze medal in London - one of five won in the ring by Team GB, whose haul also included golds for Anthony Joshua and Nicola Adams.

He turned professional soon after and seemed set for a glittering career after signing with Golden Boy Promotions in the US, who had also worked with British world champions Ricky Hatton and David Haye.

Ogogo stopped Kieron Gray at Sheffield Arena in his first professional contest in April 2013 and built up an 11-0 unbeaten record.

But his eye socket was fractured in his next fight, against Craig Cunningham, with the WBC international middleweight title at stake, and he was retired by his corner in the eighth round.

Anthony Ogogo was retired by his corner because of blurred vision in his final pro fight in 2016

A series of operations followed but, having also struggled with shoulder and Achilles injuries, he called a halt to his boxing career in March 2019.

By that point, he had already stepped inside the other kind of 'squared circle, with an appearance the previous month at a World Association of Wrestling (WAW) show in Lowestoft.

Now established as 'The Guv'nor' on the AEW roster, he still keeps tabs on the boxing world and is especially proud of Charley Davidson, who emerged from the same Lowestoft gym and herself became an Olympian in Tokyo in 2021.

"I was a trailblazer and I'm very proud of that because I've always wanted to try to inspire people from small, unfashionable towns like Lowestoft that they can too mix with the big boys and big girls," he said.

"Had I not done that, there's no way she'd have done it. Hopefully she'll go to Paris in 2024 and medal and inspire tons of other people from towns like Lowestoft."

Ogogo now has his own 'Getting Back Up' podcast which features guests who have recovered from setbacks and "achieved great things in their lives".

And he is hoping that his example will lead to other family members making names for themselves in years to come.

"I'm on my own journey in life, but I've got nephews and nieces and I want them to go out and become Premier League footballers, become big stars in their own right.

"Lowestoft is a lovely place but I wanted more than to live there the rest of the life. It gave me a great platform because it made me understand what hard work is all about," he added.

"If I can do it, anybody can do it. All it takes is belief and a work ethic and if you have both, you can't not achieve your dreams."

MJF is the current All Elite Wrestling world champion

Anthony Ogogo was speaking to BBC Radio Suffolk's Wayne Bavin