Carlisle A&E doctor Ike Ogbo who dreams of representing GB in boxing scores talent programme spot

• Video report by Matthew Taylor

A talented Carlisle boxer's dream of representing Great Britain has taken another leap towards becoming reality.

Super Heavyweight Ike Ogbo has been named in the GB Emerging Talent programme.

This effectively means he is in the team's reserve squad.

Ogbo has dreams to compete at the Olympics.

But he has no intention of going professional - because he already works full-time as an A&E doctor at Carlisle's Cumberland infirmary.

The 29-year-old has been training for years with Carlisle's Border City Boxing Club - going through punishing training sessions, watching what he eats and travelling the length and breadth of the country.

He does all this on top of his day job, after a gruelling period working full-time throughout the Covid pandemic.

He said: "The pressure of competing, training and being in that very intense environment and being able to make quick-fire decisions in the ring, that carries over directly to my clinical practice."

Being selected for the emerging talent programme has opened up many new opportunities for the super-heavyweight, and his coaches and teammates at the club are extremely proud.

Dean Jopson is a coach at Border City ABC and said: "All the boxers look up to Ike because he's the biggest, the heaviest, gone the furthest and he trains harder than any of them."

Despite being a doctor and knowing the dangers of the sport Ogbo told ITV Border he has faith in England Boxing's medical framework.

He said: "It's very robust. It's quite reassuring the scopes they go to to mitigate the risks to athletes."

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