The bridgerweight title bout between recently-crowned WBC champion Lawrence Okolie and South African contender, Kevin Lerena, will be heading towards a purse bid set to be held on September 20th after the two parties failed to reach an agreement during negotiations. This news is contrary to what had been reported approximately two months ago when the WBC itself indicated the two had already agreed to fight.
The upcoming purse bid will pit Lawrence Okolie’s (20-1, 15 KO’s) promoter of Boxxer with the promotion that Kevin Lerena (30-3, 14 KO’s) is signed to, which presumably remains the South Africa-based promotion of Golden Gloves.
Despite Boxxer’s prolific history in convincing their own fighters to withdraw from purse bids at the last moment, Okolie is not expected to suddenly withdraw the day of the purse bid proceedings due to his position as the WBC bridgerweight (200-224 lbs) champion. Despite the division’s relative obscurity and lack of attention compared to any of the other well-established weight categories, the bridgerweight world title still offers Boxxer a much-needed bargaining tool to use in future negotiations for Okolie, and it further adds to the promotion’s prestige―however mild.
Once the two fighters’ parties have reached an agreement, a date and venue will be arranged this year and stage the title bout between the two which will see Lawrence Okolie defend his WBC bridgerweight title against Lerena.
Kevin Lerena earned the opportunity after defeating German contender Senad Gashi (29-4, 28 KO’s) last year to become the WBC bridgerweight mandatory challenger and interim champion. His last match saw him suffer a unanimous decision (UD) loss to Australian heavyweight (200+ lbs) Justis Huni (10-0, 5 KO’s) in what was a close match, but as their fight was ruled a heavyweight fight, it did not affect Lerena’s position in the bridgerweight division. Prior to Lerena’s victory over Gashi, he also recorded a UD win over French former cruiserweight contender Ryad Merhy (32-3, 26 KO’s) in a non-title bridgerweight contest
Okolie has fought just once at bridgerweight but it would prove to be one of the most essential fights of his career as he defeated then-WBC bridgerweight champion Lukasz Rozanski (15-1, 14 KO’s) by technical knockout (TKO) in just the first round of their May 24th match.
