LAWRENCE OKOLIE has impressed with one of the youngsters in his promotional stable in recent months.
The former WBO cruiserweight and WBC bridgerweight champion makes his heavyweight debut tomorrow night in Birmingham against Hussein Muhamed, 18-1 (14 KOs). There have been several firsts this year for Okolie, 20-1 (15 KOs). Signing with Queensberry, joining Joe Gallagher’s gym and moving up to heavyweight, where he hopes to win a third world title.
Among the number of heavyweight fights, particularly in Riyadh, current IBF champion Daniel Dubois has caught Okolie’s eye. The 31-year-old spoke to Boxing news yesterday for the man who is now one of his new rivals.
“If you look at his form, it was ‘Big Baby’ Miller, Hrgovic (and) Anthony Joshua. Those are three top quality heavyweights that he was in there with, he hit them and he grabbed him and he stopped two of them. He’s in great shape.”
Going forward, Okolie, already ranked fifth in the WBC heavyweight rankings, could face Dubois if either or both have a world title up for grabs. The IBF title holder is next on February 22 in Riyadh defending his belt against Joseph Parker.
“This is a big fight,” Okolie said.
“It’s a risky race for Dan.” We’ve seen Parker in there with Zhang, we’ve seen him in there with Wilder who are two huge punchers. And he was able to negate them and get points decisions for both. It’s tough.
“If Dan catches him on top of him and overwhelms him with hard punches, he could stop. But if he’s not careful, the rounds can slip away and Parker could win a decision. However, Parker has put on a lot of size over the last few months, so I don’t know if that will slow him down and then he’ll be in the pocket a lot. We have to wait and see.”
