British promotion Boxxer may be responsible for multiple delays in the WBC-ordered bout between Lawrence Okolie and Kevin Lerena. Okolie, who currently holds the WBC bridgerweight title, is obligated to defend his title against Lerena, but with Richard Riakporhe rumored to be within his sights, Boxxer appears to be at the forefront of this disjointed set of delays given their own unique history in purse bids.
Boxxer has already established an ill-gotten reputation for its fighters pulling out of purse bids at the last moment, with Boxxer CEO Ben Shalom heavily implicated in coercing his fighters to withdraw. While the reasons for this are still unknown, there have been at least three cases of Boxxer fighters reneging out of mandated fights.
As such, the recent claims by South African heavyweight (200+lbs) Kevin Lerena (30-3, 14 KO’s) of Boxxer attempting to arrange a fight between Lawrence Okolie (20-1, 15 KO’s) and Richard Riakporhe (17-1, 13 KO’s)―both signed to Boxxer―sheds some light onto the constant delays. Riakporhe himself was involved in a now-infamous withdrawal from a mandated bout against Australian IBF champion Jai Opetaia (25-0, 19 KO’s), and fighting Riakporhe for presumably more lucrative earnings―as a fight between the two Brits would draw plenty of interest within the UK―seems to have now become an incentive for Okolie to join Boxxer’s list of withdrawn fighters from purse bids.
The WBC had initially announced Okolie’s and Lerena’s parties to have reached an agreement, but has since then postponed a purse bid that was rescheduled for today, October 1. However, this same purse bid has now been cancelled as the WBC would go on to state yesterday in their official press release:
“The WBC has given all considerations to both sides to try to reach an amicable agreement to stage the mandatory fight between [WBC] Bridgerweight champion Lawrence Okolie and interim champion Kevin Lerena,” The WBC’s press release states. “Having communicated this past weekend with both sides, the WBC will extend the negotiation period for the last time and if no agreement is reached a purse bid will take place on Tuesday October 8th.“
The WBC has now reinstated a negotiation period for the two parties that will culminate in purse bid proceedings on October 8 if the two fail to reach an agreement. The sanctioning body further indicated they would “extend the negotiation period for the last time”, suggesting there will be no further postponements made.
