London 2012: Suffolk boxer Anthony Ogogo targets gold
- Published
Suffolk boxer Anthony Ogogo is targeting a gold medal at London 2012.
The middleweight became the seventh British boxer to qualify for the Olympics by reaching the final of the European qualifying event in Turkey.
Now qualification has sunk in, the 23-year-old told 91热爆 Radio Suffolk he does not intend to rest on his laurels.
"My goal is simple, to win. Some of the Great Britain squad will be household names after the Olympic Games and I hope to be one of them," he said.
I have a medal to win now - Ogogo
Ogogo beat Belarusian Vitali Bandarenka 14-7 in his semi-final in Trabzon after coming through an epic quarter-final against determined Georgian fighter Jaba Khositashvili.
"The fight against the Georgian was unbelievable, he was really trying to rough me up, head-butting me, using his elbows, hitting me on the back of the net and the referee was letting him get away with it," said Ogogo.
"In the last round I gritted my teeth and went to town throwing haymakers and I won the fight. Bandarenka might have looked a more comfortable fight, but he was a top fighter, big and strong and I had to use my movement and speed."
The triumph was all the sweeter as Ogogo only recently returned to the ring after five months out of action following shoulder surgery.
A promising footballer as a youth, when he was on the books at Norwich City, Ogogo chose boxing and seemed destined for a place at the 2008 Games in Beijing as part of the GB elite development squad.
But a serious shoulder injury in 2007 dashed those hopes and he was dropped from the squad, losing his funding.
But he refused to give up, working as a barman in Lowestoft to help pay for his rehabilitation and training at his local amateur club.
"Now I'm back at home and everyone is so proud of me it's begun to sink in," said Ogogo.
"I have had so much bad luck with injuries but I never lost faith in myself and have had some amazing support from the coaches and all the back-up team.
"To be able to call myself an Olympian is why I've done it. I've trained from such a small age to do that and to win a medal. The last four years have been such a roller-coaster and now my goal is to win - to become Olympic champion."