Lawrence Okolie and Richard Riakporhe did a fair job promoting both the Creed III movie and a potential future bout between themselves as they were forcibly separated during a confrontation at the Creed III premiere where they nearly came to blows.
The British boxers were filmed being pulled apart by bystanders – most notably by boxing media personality, Spencer Fearon – as they apparently sought to brawl with one another. Both of the rivals were attending the European premiere of the highly-anticipated Creed 3 boxing movie at Cineworld Leicester Square.
In the clip, Fearon can be seen putting himself in between the two fighters and pleading with them to stop. As the British Boxing Board of Control can be quite strict with such incidents, best illustrated when they suspended Billy Joe Saunders’ British boxing license for posting a comedy skit where he gave instructions on how to beat one’s spouse. Fearon – a retired professional boxer himself – did an excellent job in preventing both fighters’ careers from getting sidetracked by stopping any potential fight between the two.
Riakporhe (16-0, 12 KO’s), 33, has recently wrapped up an impressive TKO win over former WBO interim champion Krzysztof Głowacki (32-4, 20 KO’s). His highest-ranking position is at the IBF where he is ranked number two, but the nature of his recent incident with Okolie (18-0, 14 KO’s) might breed interest towards a potential title fight with the WBO champion, if Okolie manages to beat his next opponent.
Lawrence Okolie, 30, is the current WBO Cruiserweight world champion and is set to face Australian David Light next month for the third defense of his title. Okolie is one of four champions in the division, and despite neither of the title holders having unified, Okolie has been acknowledged as the number one Cruiserweight in the division by BoxRec for his performances in the past two years.
The two have been at odds for a while, and have as of recently traded harsh words with each other in a televised appearance on Sky Sports Boxing, but this recent incident appears to be the first time they seemed to have physically and publicly confronted each other.
