Lawrence Okolie moving to heavyweight for next fight
By Jack Tiernan: One 7 days following sparring with Anthony Joshua, WBO cruiserweight champion Lawrence Okolie has decided to go up to heavyweight for his subsequent combat.
The conclusion just one can draw from this information is that the rumors of the 6’5″ Okolie (17-, 14 KOs) finding the superior of Joshua throughout their sparring session are real.
It would have been attention-grabbing to be a fly on the wall during the Joshua-Okolie sparring session to see what occurred. If it’s genuine that Okolie handed Joshua a thrashing, AJ’s self confidence has received to be at an all-time reduced likely into his April rematch with IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.
With Okolie’s WBO title, he can petition to the Entire world Boxing Group to have them make him mandatory for WBO heavyweight winner Oleksandr Usyk’s heavyweight title.
If Okolie can turn into necessary to Usyk, he’ll be in a situation to obstacle for a globe title in 2023 or 2024.
Okolie would will need to wait in line behind the other required challengers from the other sanctioning bodies in advance of becoming provided a title shot.
The funds that Okolie will get preventing whoever emerges as the WBO heavyweight champion following 2022 will be Large. Okolie will not make the kind of dollars at cruiserweight, even as the WBO winner.
It is not a well known plenty of division for Okolie to grow to be rich on the amount of Joshua, Tyson Fury, or even the contenders like Dillian Whyte.
On social media, Okolie unveiled his programs for him to go up to heavyweight. He isn’t expressing if he’ll vacate his WBO cruiserweight title, but it would make sense for him to do so.
For Okolie to gain highest success at heavyweight, he’s obtained to keep in the division, attain more fat and target on teaching with even bigger fighters. Bouncing back again and forth between cruiserweight and heavyweight would be a negative notion for him.
Okolie, 29, has the dimension, ability, and ability to seize earth titles at heavyweight. We just saw former undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk defeat Joshua past September, and Okolie is a lot bigger and more highly effective than him.
I imagine I will dabble with a HEAVYWEIGHT fight upcoming 🤛🏿
— Lawrence Okolie (NEW Income FREESTLYE OUT NOW) (@Lawrence_tko) January 5, 2022
In the workout clip of Okolie and Joshua in Dubai, Anthony was going all-around the ring although being stalked by Lawrence. You could convey to that from seeing the clip that Okolie was lining Joshua up for a correct-hand bomb.
The 2016 Olympian Okolie picked up the WBO cruiserweight title last March, destroying previous winner Krzysztof Glowacki by a sixth spherical knockout. In Okolie’s to start with protection of his WBO title, he destroyed beforehand unbeaten Dilan Prasovic in 3 rounds.
Interestingly, Canelo Alvarez has preferred not to target Okolie for his WBO cruiserweight title. It is fair to say that Canelo wishes no element of mixing it up with a fighter with Okolie’s sizing, achieve, and punching power.
