Lawrence Okoli is in talks with two-time world heavyweight title challenger Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz. The former WBO heavyweight champion (21-1, 16 KOs) is slowly getting closer to acclimatization in the heavyweight division.
Cuban Ortiz (34-3, 29 KOs) turns 46 on March 29, but is still dangerous because of his strength, size and technical skills. His in-ring IQ and athletic ability are above the 6’5″ Okolie. If Ortiz lands an uncoordinated ‘Sauce’ Okoli, he could knock him out and destroy his heavyweight ambitions.
Okolie vs. Ortiz in action
Okoli’s two heavyweight fights were against Husein Muhammad and Lukasz Rozanski. Both of them were terrible and completely useless in developing Okolie in a real sense to push him for a world title shot. However, if the idea is to feed Okolie cans of tomatoes to make him look invincible, comparing him to these types of fighters is the way to go.
In Lawrence’s last fight at heavyweight, he was defeated by Chris Billiam-Smith, losing a 12-round majority decision on May 27, 2023. That fight was the writing on the wall for Okolie that his time as Cruiserweight ‘Champion’ was up. Okolie would not fare well with new talented fighters, Jay Opetaia and David Niika. So he moved up to heavyweight to reinvent himself.
Ortiz is coming off a first round knockout win over Francisco Corder last January 13th in Colombia. “King Kong Ortiz had been inactive for two years prior to that after losing a 12-round unanimous decision to the former world champion Andy Ruiz September 14, 2022
Ortiz gave Ruiz hell in that fight, often landing on the stocky 268-pounder. If Ruiz hadn’t lost Luiz in the second and seventh rounds, the Cuban would have won. In Ortiz’s previous fight on January 1, 2022, he knocked out former heavyweight champion Charles Martin in the sixth round.
Former heavyweight champion Lawrence Okoli, now campaigning at heavyweight, is in talks to fight Luis Ortiz in the UK, a source told ESPN. Ortiz, 45, returned last January to battle the rust. It was his first fight since losing to Andy Ruiz in 2022.
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) January 20, 2025
