Lawrence Okolie made his debut at heavyweight last month, where he stopped his opponent in the very first round. Okolie has expressed a desire to become heavyweight world champion, and will return in a bigger fight soon.
Lawrence Okolie first won the WBO Cruiserweight title in 2020 against Krysztof Glowacki, who at the time had only lost to Oleksandr Usyk and Mairis Breidis. ‘The Sauce’ then defended his title three times, against the likes of Michal Cieslak, David Light and Dilan Prasovic.
Okolie suffered his first defeat when he fought Chris Billam-Smith. The fight was highly criticised due to both its messy nature, and Okolie’s excessive holding, which saw him deducted a point in the fifth round, and another in the seventh. Billam-Smith put Okolie down three times in the fight, before winning by decision.
Though many are yet to recognise Bridgerweight as a real division, Okolie rebounded from his single career loss by claiming the WBC Bridgerweight world title in one round against Lukasz Rozanski.
Lawrence Okolie Next Opponent
After a successful debut at heavyweight, Lawrence Okolie is said to be in talks to face Luis Ortiz in the UK.
Though not as competitive as it may have once been, with Ortiz now 45 and plagued with bouts of inactivity, it is still a bigger name, and perhaps a springboard to some big future fights.
Ortiz holds a record of 34-3, with his only losses coming at the hands of Deontay Wilder and Andy Ruiz. Ortiz fought Ruiz in 2022, and was knocked down twice before going on to lose the closely-contested fight. He has fought once since that fight, defeating a journeyman by first-round knockout in January last year.
Okolie has his sights set high in the heavyweight division, and would be the clear favourite if this fight comes to fruition. Ortiz meanwhile is on the back-end of his career, and may hang up the gloves if he fails to beat Okolie.\
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