A Boxing Memory: Georgia O’Connor

A Boxing Memory: Georgia O’Connor

On October 15th 2022, was the very last time we ever saw Georgia O’Connor inside a boxing ring. At 22, O’Connor was seemingly a fighter with her whole career ahead of her. But her story, her entire life even, is very much a case of what could have been.

O’Connor played a supporting role on a night that was a celebration of women’s boxing. Live on Sky Sports, Boxxer staged a historic all-female card at a sold-out O2 Arena in London. The main card featured the likes of Karriss Artingstall, Lauren Price, and Caroline Dubois, and two highly anticipated grudge matches at the top of the card. Mikaela Mayer and Alycia Baumgardner was perhaps the most heated rivalry we have ever seen on the female side of the sport. But Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall weren’t that far behind them. Two fights that could have headlined on virtually any show in the world. Somehow, Ben Shalom managed to get both fights on one card. Shalom would have had to dig extremely deep in his pockets to secure their services.

But before all the bright lights focused on unification and undisputed fights at the top of the card, the likes of Shannon Ryan, April Hunter, Ginny Fuchs, Sarah Leigmann, and Georgia O’Connor were hoping to shine a light on their own blossoming careers. Potential stars of the future, given a platform to stake their case, that one day they would be worthy of being much further up the card.

After an excellent amateur career O’Connor turned professional in October 2021 with a six-round points victory over Ester Konecna in Newcastle. That encouraging start to life in the paid ranks was followed by another decision win over six rounds against Erica Juana Gabriela Alvarez the following April. For fight number three, O’Connor dropped down to four rounds to take on the former Belgium kickboxer Joyce Van Ee at the O2 Arena.

Van Ee was tough, but O’Connor showed her obvious class winning every round in improving her resume to 3-0 courtesy of a 40-36 scorecard from the referee. A performance that offered immense hope for the future. But for many reasons, Georgia O’Connor never fought again.

There were broken promises. A tsunami of boxing politics. Her sport failed her in so many different ways. A career that promised so much was allowed to stagnate. Many will think, and know, that they could have done more for her.

Sadly, life took a darker, tragic turn. O’Connor had been fighting illness for much of her last few years. “I’ve been really ill and nearly died,” O’Connor told me in our first-ever interview in 2021. Just before her professional boxing career started, a battle with Pulmonary Embolisms was won. Another much bigger fight was looming.

Boxxer did another all-female card in March of this year. The grand setting of the Royal Albert Hall played host to a big world title welterweight unification showdown between Natasha Jonas and Lauren Price. Georgia O’Connor was there. She was fighting again. But this time, a very different type of fight. One that she couldn’t win. But how she tried.

As in her boxing career, the medical experts will be will thinking, and know, that they could have done more for her. Many people failed Georgia O’Connor in her life.

“Not one doctor fucking listened to me,” O’Connor posted on social media when she broke the news of her cancer diagnosis. “Not one doctor took me seriously. Not one doctor did the scans or blood tests I begged for whilst crying on the floor in agony.” Words that still hit hard. Words that ring out, if only. Georgia O’Connor could still be with us if only someone had listened to her. She should be here.

A guest of honour at the Royal Albert Hall. In a different way, the star of the show. Hitting home how things had changed in her life since the first Boxxer all-female show in October 2022. Revisiting her last fight was a painful gut-wrenching experience. All the potential in her fists was apparent as she eased to her third professional victory.

Georgia O’Connor was a shining light in our sport. The smile never stopped. The fight in her body never left. Even at the end. A young life that gave so much to anyone who had the pleasure of meeting her. A life that still had so much more to give.

The outpouring of grief when she sadly passed away in May, aged just 25, says plenty. In truth, it says everything. “I just want to be happy. Getting out there inspiring others.” Georgia O’Connor certainly did that.

Photo Credit: Lawrence Lustig/Boxxer