LAWRENCE OKOLIE has been impressed with one of his new promotional stablemates in recent months.
The former WBO Cruiserweight and WBC Bridgerweight Champion makes his heavyweight debut tomorrow night in Birmingham against Hussein Muhammad, 18-1 (14 KOs). This year saw several firsts for Okolie, 20-1 (15 KOs). Signing with Queensbury, joining Joe Gallagher’s gym and moving up to heavyweight where he hopes to win a third world title.
Among the many fights in the heavyweight division, especially in Riyadh, Okolie caught the eye of current IBF champion Daniel Dubois. The 31-year-old spoke with Boxing News yesterday about 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. These are three of the best heavyweights he’s been in there with, beaten and knocked out and stopped two of them. He’s in great shape.”
In the future Okolie, who is already ranked fifth in the WBC heavyweight rankings, could face Dubois if one or both of them win a world title. The IBF title holder will next fight on February 22 in Riyadh where he will defend his belt against Joseph Parker.
“It’s a great fight,” Okolie said.
“This is a risky fight for Dan. We’ve seen Parker in there with Zhang, we’ve seen him in there with Wilder who are two big punchers. And he was able to deny them and get points decisions over both of them. That is difficult.
“If Dunn gets on top of him and overwhelms him with a hard shot, he could get the break.” But if he’s not careful, the rounds could slip away and Parker could win the decision. However, Parker has gained a lot of size in the last few months, so I don’t know if that will slow him down and then he will be too much in the pocket. We have to wait and see.”