Louise Orton: A Story of Resilience
I once labelled Louise Orton Britain’s unluckiest fighter. Five years on, I don’t think that tagline does her story justice. Nowhere close.
Orton turned professional in 2019 with real hope. A two-time national champion. Big things were expected in the pro ranks. Hopes of winning world titles seemed more than realistic. But it was three years before Orton made her professional debut. Eight scheduled fights came and went without reward. Fight after fight fell through. Some literally, at the last minute.
The long-awaited debut finally came in March 2023. A six-round points victory over Flora Machela in London. I remember watching that long-awaited pro debut on my phone outside Bramall Lane just before I would endure another painful 90 minutes watching my beloved Sheffield United. The ring rust was understandable. But Orton showed her class. You knew she had something. Finally, she was up and running. All that potential could now be realised.
The hope returned. More would follow. A potential new sponsor contacted her. It was supposed to be everything she needed. In truth, it was anything but. The dream new sponsor turned out to be a registered sex offender who was intent on grooming her. Old wounds reopened, and a downward spiral sent Orton into an abyss.
“I was physically drained, but more importantly, I was mentally drained as well,” Orton told me at the time. “It was the constant cancellations of fights, and then there was that guy who said that he was going to sponsor me. He said he was going to pay for my expenses and everything, and then for him to turn out like that left me in a very bad place mentally.”
When reality hit home, Orton found herself in a very dark place. “I got very low. I was drinking a lot. I turned to drinking to block out a lot of things that had happened to me in the past. I went back on antidepressants, and I didn’t want to go out.”
It took time, but Orton found some semblance of hope again. She found herself again. “I am not what happened to me; I am what I choose to become. The challenges were sent to test how badly I want it. This is where the story unfolds. Every day, you have two choices. I will survive this day, or I will thrive this day. I chose to thrive to show the character of a champion.” If titles were handed out for resilience, Orton would be undisputed. Of all the fighters I have interviewed over the past eleven years, no fighter has suffered so much, yet she refused to give up on her dream.
“Sometimes, you have to risk it all for a dream, only you can see,” Orton said three years ago. This is my dream.”
Orton never stopped hoping things would change. The flame of that dream refused to fizzle out. The sport that took so much might just give her something back. After waiting three years for her debut, it was another twenty months before she would have fight number two. A points win over Bojana Libiszewska in late 2023 was followed by a dominant victory over the tough Amy Greatorex six months later. Orton looked really good against Greatorex. Finally, that hope didn’t look misplaced.
After several attempts to secure a title fight of any description, Orton finally found one. Johnny Clark of Top Tier Promotions had got Orton a Commonwealth Silver super-featherweight title fight against Katie Smith scheduled for late 2024. But fate would intervene again.
Lingering elbow problems curtailed the fight against Smith. Surgery was needed on both elbows. Orton knew time was against her. She wanted to start a family. The day job needed her time. The clock was ticking. The fight with Smith was the last throw of the dice. The aim was once to win world titles. Orton had resigned herself to the fact that she wouldn’t get there. That Commonwealth Silver bauble was her consolation prize. Something to make all that she had gone through worthwhile. “If I could walk away with something, then it hasn’t been all for nothing.” But even that was denied her. Orton still clung to that proverbial straw. Giving up. Retirement. It just wasn’t her.
But the elbow surgery didn’t go well. The recovery was long and hard. But life had even more to throw at her.
In April 2025, out of nowhere, Orton collapsed at home. “Everything around me just went black. I felt sick and hit the deck.”
Once Orton came around, things were still not right. Her pulse was all over the place. Her heart was sporadic. After going to the hospital, she collapsed again. “I was petrified. I didn’t know what was going on.”
After having some tests, she was told she had a Wandering Atrial Pacemaker. Her heartbeat was irregular. Further tests revealed she had an enlarged heart. Which could mean she either had heart disease or it could be athletes heart. Orton was told the latter was common in athletes. If so, eventually, if she stayed away from exercise, her heart could return to normal. But it didn’t.
The wait for some firm news went on. Orton hoped for the best. Maybe still clinging to the hope she could have one last fight. The reluctance to finally call time on her boxing was obvious. Even now. After everything that life and boxing had thrown at her.
But earlier this year Orton got the news that finally forced her hand. “The hospital called me earlier with the results from my heart monitor. It wasn’t good news. Doesn’t look like I’ll be back training any time soon, if at all. I’m in disbelief. It’s been a long twelve months, and I’d hoped it was coming to an end real soon. But evidently not.”
A story of what could have been in so many ways. Unlucky doesn’t even come close to covering it. It’s a sad story. But you can’t help but be incredibly impressed and inspired by Louise Orton. The boxing career wasn’t allowed to develop and play out the way it should have. It wasn’t a natural conclusion. It was a premature conclusion to a career that promised so much. But Orton couldn’t possibly have given any more in pursuit of that dream. Hopefully, in the coming years, that will be of some comfort to her.
