England v Argentina is always an international confrontation to conjure with.
And it’s that task which faces Georgia O’Connor when she climbs through the ropes for the second time as a professional at the Utilita Arena on Saturday night.
The Durham light-middleweight is matched with Argentina’s Erica Alvarez in Newcastle over six rounds.
Punch-lines understands the British Boxing Board of Control knocked back a number of prospective opponents for the 22-year-old but Alvarez was deemed worthy.
The 31-year-old, with two wins out of seven, will be boxing for the first time outside her homeland, though did not look fazed at the weigh-in.
“She looks a tough girl and Argentinians don’t come to lose, do they?” O’Connor told punch-lines. “But neither do I.
“I hope it’s a good fight for the fans and I’ll be looking to out on a good show.”
O’Connor is back where it all began last October when she outpointed the Czech Republic’s Ester Konečná in a smooth six-round display.
“It was a dream come true to box at the Utilita Arena for my debut,” she said.
“I’m not a massive football fan but Newcastle is the team I support so it’s nice to be doing the press conference at St James’s Park as well.
“To be boxing again in Newcastle is wonderful, it’s only 20 minutes from my home which means all my family and friends can be there.
“My debut was a night I’ll never forget.
“Everyone said ‘you only get one professional debut, enjoy every minute, make sure you soak it all in’ and I was like ‘yeah, yeah’.
“But it kind of went over my head until I got there and saw the ring and all the bright lights.
“It was quite emotional, all the stuff I’ve been through over the last year and to get the win was the icing on the cake.
“I was told to pace myself and not do anything silly.
“There will be a similar mentality now for this fight, don’t take any risks, have a look and do what I have to do, I believe I can adapt to any style.
“It’s about getting the job done, getting the win.”
Just to be boxing at all is something of a miracle for O’Connor who suffered a blood clot on her lungs last year, a condition which often, sadly, does not have a happy ending.
Georgia not only survived this scare, but recovered to such an extent that she turned professional under former unbeaten pro, Mark Clauzel, who is also the manager of Steve ‘USSR’ Robinson.
Clauzel believes O’Connor has the potential to go all the way and the ex-Birtley ABC star’s pedigree suggests he might not be far wrong.
As an amateur the University of Northumbria student enjoyed an amazing career.
The highlight was gold at the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games in Bermuda, while she was twice on the podium at the World Youth Championships, winning a silver in India and bronze in Hungary.
She became a member of the senior GB squad at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield where she was in the women’s development squad, winning a silver medal at the Bocksai tournament in Hungary in 2019.
Words: Roy Kelly Picture: Lawrence Lustig/ BOXXER
