Lowestoft boxer Anthony Ogogo adamant he’s still weighing up options
Lowestoft's Anthony Ogogo last night labelled reports he was poised to sign professional terms with Oscar de la Hoya's famed Golden Boy Promotions as inaccurate.
The London 2012 Olympic bronze medallist maintains he is still contemplating his next move but is determined to have made up his mind this side of Christmas.
The 24-year-old has a hoard of professional suitors beating a path to his door with Golden Boy Promotions believed to be top of the list, while he is also still considering remaining an amateur to box at the Rio Games in 2016.
Ogogo also has the option of throwing his hat in the ring with the British Lionhearts team, which will see elite fighters from each weight group compete in eight to 10-round matches and although they will be paid for taking part, they will remain eligible for the Olympics.
Speaking on his way to the Sports Personality of the Year Awards, Ogogo said: 'I read that, but that's not accurate at all. As of now I am still very much an amateur boxer. I haven't signed anything yet. I am in discussions with a particular promoter as a professional boxer but I am also in advanced discussions with GB boxing.
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'I am still very much in the middle. Oscar de la Hoya tweeted me and he knows that I have been in discussions with his CEO (Richard Schaefer) from Golden Boy. De la Hoya asked if I was ready to make my pro debut and I said 'I'm ready to attack the new year'. It was just quite ambiguous and people have put two and two together and come up with five.'
Ogogo, who could pocket up to �150,000-a-season in the World Series of Boxing, added: 'I could stay amateur, join the world series team or turn pro. I do want it wrapped up sooner rather than later.
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'I think a goal will sway me. It's really tough. There is no going back whatever I decide to do. If I stay an amateur then I think I'll be an amateur for the rest of my career. I'll be 27 by the time of the next games and I think by then it will be too old to turn pro.
'If I do stay amateur I'll try and go to three Olympic Games, I'll try and win three medals and try and be the most successful amateur we have ever had. I'm taking my time. The money is not an issue. I can make more money, more guaranteed money as an amateur than I could as pro with the world series.'
Ogogo, who boxes for Lowestoft's Triple A club, is desperate that whichever route he chooses there is a big enough goal at the end of it to provide a long-lasting fire in his belly.
'I just want a goal I can really get excited for. Every single Christmas Day I get up and go for a really hard run and I make it really, really hard so I feel a bit sick so I push myself so it's like a psychological edge. I want a goal that makes me wake up for the next 10 years that will make me go for that hard run on Christmas morning when I don't really want to.
'I want to make my mind up soon. Christmas Day is quite soon. I want to go for that session on Christmas Day knowing what I am training for.
'The guys at GB boxing want me to make my mind up because they can't keep funding me with public money if I am going to turn pro. And I fully respect that and I am assuming the professional guys want to go into 2013 knowing if they have got me or not.'