The World Boxing Council (WBC) has confirmed that British WBC bridgerweight champion Lawrence Okolie and Kevin Lerena will step into the ring in a mandated fight that will see Okolie defend his WBC crown against the South African boxer. Okolie won the title recently after defeating then-incumbent WBC champion Lukasz Rozanski on May 24th in the 1st round of their title bout.
Kevin Lerena (30-3, 14 KO’s) attained his mandatory position after defeating German bridgerweight (200-224 lbs) contender Senad Gashi (28-4, 27 KO’s) in November of last year. Just days prior, the WBC confirmed the bout to be a final eliminator match, identifying the winner as the future mandatory challenger of the bridgerweight division as well as the WBC interim bridgerweight champion.
Lerena competed in another match earlier this year against New Zealand heavyweight Justis Huni (9-0, 4 KO’s) but suffered a unanimous decision (UD) loss in the process. As their bout was held at heavyweight (200+ lbs) rather than bridgerweight, Lerena retained his mandatory position even after his defeat.
According to the WBC’s press release, the two fighters have reached an agreement to fight during the negotiation period set forth by the WBC after their mandate. It is unknown when exactly this mandate was sent out, as it was not publicly known until now, but it appears this process went on seamlessly behind the scenes.
Lawrence Okolie (20-1, 15 KO’s) will be in for the first defense of his WBC bridgerweight title, indicating that any supposed plans of him moving up to heavyweight (200+ lbs) have been momentarily stalled as he engages with Kevin Lerena.
Given the purported aim by Lawrence Okolie to fight at heavyweight, the Lerena bout will be a good indicator to see whether he has what it takes to fight in boxing’s highest weight class; with Lerena generally considered as a heavyweight after participating at 200+ lbs in four out of his last six fights.
No fight date or venue has yet been revealed but is expected to be announced in due course. The promotion set to stage the fight will likely be BOXXER due to its broadcast connections within the sport, particularly Sky Sports and NBC Sports, which retain a significant broadcasting presence respectively within the UK and the USA.
