THE subsequent battle for Britain’s Lawrence Okolie seems to be locked in.
Hackney’s big-punching 31-year-old has agreed phrases to defend his WBC Bridgerweight title towards southpaw Kevin Lerena, based on the sanctioning physique.
Okolie, (20-1, 15 KOs), returned to type in Could when he knocked Lukasz Rozanski out in a single spherical to take the belt from the Pole in his personal nation. With coach Joe Gallagher in Okolie’s nook for the primary time the previous Olympian confronted little resistance towards the inactive Rozanski and as soon as the challenger started discovering the goal and letting his palms go the battle was nearly as good as over.
The win got here practically one yr to the day since he misplaced his unbeaten file and WBO cruiserweight title to Chris Billam-Smith in Bournemouth. With a fast victory below his belt Okolie was eager to be again within the ring as quickly as attainable and it appears to be like as if Lerena, (30-3, 14 KOs), will likely be subsequent.
Lerena, obligatory challenger for the WBC Bridgerweight strap, will deal with British opposition for the second time in 4 fights having misplaced to Daniel Dubois in a frantic encounter over 18 months in the past. The South African had Dubois in all kinds of bother through the first spherical after dropping him with a left hook earlier than a leg damage had the large heavyweight down on two extra events. Dubois rallied and bought the job executed within the third a lot to his aid.
Factors wins over Ryad Merhy and Senad Gashi led Lerena to Saudi Arabia to face Justis Huni in March. The Aussie beat Lerena over 10 rounds however needed to survive an almighty scare with 90 seconds left within the closing session after he was caught by an enormous left hook which had Huni in a world of bother however he held on for the win. Lerena acquired monumental respect and credit score for competing having misplaced his mum throughout battle week. Afterwards the 32-year-old hinted he might return to Bridgerweight and now appears to be like set to deal with the 6ft 5ins Okolie within the close to future.