Another top North-East amateur talent is joining the professional ranks after Georgia O’Connor’s decision to sign for Mark Clauzel.
The Gateshead fight figure will manage and train the 21-year-old from Durham, who was a member of the Great Britain squad and boasts a list of national and international honours as long as her arm.
It is some coup from Clauzel who is confident O’Connor will become a world champion.
O’Connor’s transfer from amateur to pro comes in the aftermath of Cyrus Pattinson’s switch with the Birtley and GB boxer making his paid debut with a stoppage win on Matchroom’s show in Newcastle.
Georgia, a team-mate of Cyrus at the all-conquering Birtley club, will need to appear in front of the British Boxing Board of Control first but the middleweight’s move into the professional sport would appear a formality.
“I believe Georgia has the ability to become world champion,” Clauzel told punch-lines. “That’s the goal.
“She has great talent and a really good pedigree and at 21, she has so many years ahead of her, she’s good already and she’ll get even better.
“When we first spoke it was about her coming down to the gym just to do some sparring. She liked the look of our set-up.
“After we had a chat it was clear she was frustrated with the amateur scene and I asked if she’d considered turning pro.
“Some might argue that at 21 she should have stayed with GB and built her experience.
“But I’d counter that by saying she could get her experience as a professional and may as well get paid for it.”
O’Connor will be a significant loss to the amateur game and was considered a real Olympic candidate, not for Tokyo but for Paris in 2024 and Los Angeles four years later.
Currently, world champion Lauren Price is Great Britain’s representative at middleweight though the Welsh girl is expected to turn pro straight after the games in Tokyo.
But Georgia has decided to get to the paid ranks now and, as Clauzel pointed out she goes there with one amazing CV.
Four times a national junior champion, she struck gold at the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games in Bermuda and later that year in India she was a silver medalist at the World Youth Championships. The following year she won bronze at the World Youths in Hungary.
The University of Northumbria student, who also has European Youth silver and bronze in her collection, became a member of the senior GB squad in Sheffield as part of the women’s development squad at the English Institute of Sport gym.
On the senior stage, she took silver at the Bocksai tournament in Hungary in 2019 and was the colour of medal she won domestically after losing a close points decision to Jodie Wilkinson at the 2019 England National Championship in Manchester. Given the Coronavirus crisis struck in the spring of 2020, there has been a distinct lack of amateur action over the last year and a half.
Her coach, Clauzel, a man unbeaten as a pro boxer, is building quite a stable at his Swalwell HQ, having added Seaham heavyweight David Baker this year and already has the giant Steve ‘USSR’ Robinson as his gym’s number one.
Words: Roy Kelly
