The British fighter, who has eight wins since turning pro on the back of claiming a medal at London 2012, suffered an injured shoulder in his latest victory over Ruslan Schelev on German soil back in July, in what was Ogogo’s first fight back following an operation.
Achilles surgery had sidelined Ogogo for a full year prior to the Schelev win and the Lowestoft man decided to keep a positive mental attitude by participating in the 2015 instalment of TV show Strictly Come Dancing last month.
After being voted off second on the Saturday night programme, Ogogo is now putting his sole effort on getting back in the ring in order to continue his promising progress under promotional giants Golden Boy and Sauerland in the paid ranks.
“I’m working hard, even when I was doing the dance training I was rehabbing in the morning and at night. Plus, with the hours upon hours of dance training during the day I was getting a total body workout,” Ogogo told World Boxing News.
“I am completely focussed on getting back in the ring as quickly as I can and I’m almost on the cusp of being able to punch with my right hand again. I’ve got a hard couple of days left of prepping my shoulder building muscle, strength and stability before I can start punching, but when I’m punching with both hands that’s when I’ll feel like a really fighter again.
“I can’t explain how hard this rehab has been. I’ve been very unfortunate since turning pro, I feel like I’ve had an entire careers worth on misfortune in a short space of time, but there’s nothing like reminding yourself how much you want something when it gets taken from you. I’m working diligently every single day, and I will do until I back in that ring knocking opponents out.”
On a possible return to Germany to star on another Sauerland card after linking up with promoters Kalle and Nisse earlier this year, Ogogo was cautious not to look too far ahead of himself in anticipation of a ninth pro contest.
“It’s far too early to say where I’ll be fighting,” he pointed out. “Despite my misfortune in regards to injuries, I feel very lucky to have Team Sauerland supporting me and part of my journey. They are great guys, they put on amazing shows, so to have them as friends and members of my close knit team I feel very lucky.
“The same can be said about Golden Boy, as I couldn’t have better promoters supporting me on my quest to becoming one of Britain’s best ever fighters,” added Ogogo.
The final part of the Anthony Ogogo interview trilogy will be available on WBN at the end of this week.
