Every four years, promoters fight tooth and nail to secure the signatures of amateur standouts in hopes of finding the next big thing.

The 2024 Olympics were no different. Eddie Hearn, Bob Arum and company were battling for the signatures of Olympic stars Omari Jones, Marco Verde, Pat Brown and Nishant Dev, among others. One fighter who was not on everyone’s lips, but should have been, was Team GB’s Conner Tudsbury. 

The amateur ace, who like Brown comes from the booming boxing city of Manchester, England, has gone under the radar since deciding to call a day on the unpaid ranks.

Tudsbury, still only 24, made his name at Kelvyn and Nigel Travis’ Moss Side Fire Station Boxing Club before heading to the English Institute of Sport up in Sheffield. There, Tudsbury won a bronze medal at the Youth World Championships in Hungary and represented Team GB on numerous occasions. However, Tudsbury was the victim of his own biggest strength during his amateur career – his power. Not many light heavyweights can punch like Tudsbury, and he paid the price for it, missing out on major tournaments because of hand injuries.

These injuries have meant that Tudsbury has so often had to work behind the scenes, away from the bright lights while others take the applause. That is all set to change after Tudsbury linked up with Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing. The Mancunian has also reunited with his old amateur trainer Travis and his partner in crime, Jamie Moore, ahead of his debut. 

Hearn has given Tudsbury the chance to finally emerge from the shadows this Saturday, February 15. He will feature on his stablemate Jack Catterall’s undercard when Catterall takes on Arnold Barboza Jnr at the Co-op Live in Manchester. 

“I’m kind of like a ghost in the shadows,” Tudsbury told BoxingScene. “When we went to camp, everyone was like, ‘Who’s that guy on GB? I've never really seen him out there.’ But they’re going to see me now. This is the stage. I think people will be impressed with what I can do and where I come from.

“I just want them to be like, ‘Who's this guy? He’s come out of nowhere. He’s been hiding for a year and then signed with Matchroom. He's come in on one of the biggest cards there is, boxing in one of Europe’s biggest arenas.’ I just want to show everyone what I’m made of.”

Tudsbury is turning professional around the same time as Brown, his former Team GB colleague and now-stablemate at Jamie Moore’s gym. The heavyweight, a 2024 Olympian, was seen as the hottest prospect to come out of Team GB, and Tudsbury is already slated to feature on Brown’s debut card on March 28.

“Yeah, I think we’ll push each other on,” Tudsbury said. “I think we’ll use each other as rivals and we’ll just climb to the top together. There’s videos out there, we train together on the bag, we’ll push each other on the bag, we’ll push each other in the gym. We were roommates in GB, so we’ve always had that connection and we’ve always had that support for each other to build each other up.”

Tudsbury was an Olympic hopeful at 81kg, but injuries to his hands meant that he was unable to attend qualifiers and missed out on his opportunity.

“No, I don’t really have no regrets,” he said of his amateur career. “Some things would have been more preferable if I went to the Olympics and stuff like that, but I just take life as it comes. I got injured. Maybe that was God’s plan to say that’s not for you, but something bigger is on the way, maybe in my professional career. So yeah, I just take it as it comes. I don’t really regret it.”

Tudsbury’s power means he will very likely breeze through his early opponents, but the amateur standout is in no rush to get to where he desires in his professional career.

“First of all, I need to get my foot in there,” Tudsbury said. “I need to work my way up, I need to get that ring knowledge back, get around, get moving around, get known. My awareness of being in the ring and timings and stuff. When it’s ready, it’s ready. When things are placed in front of me, I’ll take them. When I feel like I'm ready to move up, I’ll take a step, I will do.”

And what does Tudsbury feel he can achieve in the sport?

“I’m going all the way to the top,” he said. “That's the goal. That's the dream. Climb all the way to the top, be the best I can be, which will be at the top.”