Former cruiserweight world champion Lawrence Okolie has taken the boxing world by surprise after joining prevalent British promotional outfit Queensberry Promotions. The news was announced earlier today by Queensberry, officially signifying Okolie’s departure from Boxxer―who he has been with for almost two years.
Lawrence Okolie (20-1, 15 KO’s) completed three fights while under contract with Boxxer, netting a record of 2-1 including his last fight where he became the WBC bridgerweight champion.
Okolie, 31, previously indicated his intention to fight at heavyweight (200+lbs) after pulling out of a mandatory bout against South African WBC interim bridgerweight champion Kevin Lerena (30-3, 14 KO’s). As a result of Okolie’s withdrawal, Lerena was elevated fully to WBC bridgerweight world champion shortly after.
Queensberry Promotions now becomes the third British promotion Lawrence Okolie joins, with Matchroom counted as the first promotion he joined after becoming a professional in 2017.
Based on Okolie’s ambitions to fight at heavyweight―as indicated by Queensberry’s press release surrounding his recent signing, Okolie would find himself with arguably the best promotion when it comes to nurturing heavyweights into world title contenders or champions. Tyson Fury (34-1-1, 24 KO’s) and Daniel Dubois (22-2, 21 KO’s), for instance, are both Queensberry fighters who have made a prominent name for themselves as heavyweights, with the former having remained a world champion for years while Dubois currently holds the IBF heavyweight title after defeating former unified champion Anthony Joshua (28-4, 25 KO’s) by stoppage.
The signing comes across as a surprise given there had been no indication Okolie’s contract was running out nor had there been any inkling he would join Queensberry Promotions. Prior to this signing, it had been speculated Okolie would be facing Richard Riakporhe (17-1, 13 KO’s)―another Boxxer fighter, possibly at heavyweight.
Given Queensberry’s connections to the affluent Riyadh Season, a potential date for Okolie to officially make his Queensberry debut can feasibly be pinpointed for December 21 when unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (22-0, 14 KO’s) and Tyson Fury will headline a multi-promotional Riyadh Season card in a rematch of their May 18 fight.
