Delicious Orie is emotionally devastated and still battling the depression that has beset him since he was robbed by Olympic boxing judges.
Orie has yet to recover from the acute sense of injustice he felt in Paris last month.
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DJ, as he is called, won gold medals at the Commonwealth Games and the European Championships.
and was the favourite to become Great Britain’s super-heavyweight Olympic champion.
The smell of sewage in the River Seine may have been unpleasant, but in the boxing arena it was even worse.
The XY chromosome controversy surrounding Algeria’s Iman Khalif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting – who were previously allowed to compete in the women’s event despite failing gender tests – and some baffling judges’ scorecards also highlighted this.
Ori was not at his best fighting Davit Chaloyan, yet all five judges had him knocked out in the first round.
The second and third rounds were very close but DJ and his team were stunned as they lost 3-2.
Orie was distraught and struggled to accept the unexpected defeat to the Armenian.
When I found Ori this week, who was vacationing with his parents in Thailand, he was happy to lighten his load.
Although he was 5,000 miles away, I could still feel his pain when he said: “It will take me a very long time to get over what happened to me in Paris.”
“I can’t stop thinking about it.
“Knowing our Olympic boxing history, I know it has happened to far better boxers than me – Roy Jones Jr. in Seoul and Floyd Mayweather Jr. in Atlanta are its most famous victims.
“But when my opponent raised his hand I couldn’t believe it – I felt like Mike Tyson had hit me from below.
“I had to work hard for eight years to win the gold medal, then all my dreams were shattered.”
Mike Tyson stuns Logan Paul by pulling out bag of drugs during podcast and reveals he gets drunk to train for Jake Paul“I’ve never suffered from depression before in my life – I can’t get it off my mind and it feels like my whole world is collapsing.
“I’ve taken a lot of punches, been knocked down in sparring, been really injured as an athlete.
I couldn’t believe it when my opponent raised his hand – I felt pain in my stomach, as if Mike Tyson had hit me from below.
Delicious Ori
“But this is the worst thing I’ve ever had to go through – nothing has hurt me more than this.”
Orie is 27 and would rather not play amateur for the next four years in order to make it to the Los Angeles Olympic Games.
Not least because it is uncertain whether boxing will be included in 2028.
He could become a professional boxer – or give up boxing altogether and rely on his first-class honours degree in economics from Aston University to make a living.
After failing to win an Olympic medal, DJ should not expect to get any lucrative promotional deals to start boxing.
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Certainly he’s not too old to play as an amateur – 2016 Olympic silver medallist Joe Joyce didn’t turn pro until he was 32 and was the interim WBO world heavyweight champion.
Orie is not a great boxer, but with his intelligence and colourful background – his mother is Russian and father Nigerian – he would be a welcome addition to Britain’s talented and highly competitive heavyweight scene.
You are not alone
Every 90 minutes someone in the UK commits suicide
It does not discriminate, but affects the lives of people from every corner of society – from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers.
It is the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car accidents.
And men are three times more likely to commit suicide than women.
Yet it is rarely spoken about, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop now and pay attention.
This is why The Sun launched the ‘You Are Not Alone’ campaign.
The aim is that by sharing practical advice, raising awareness and breaking down the barriers people face when talking about mental health, we can all do our part to save lives.
Let us all pledge to ask for help when we need it and listen to others too… you are not alone.
If you or someone you know needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations offer support:
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