Lawrence Okolie (20-1, 15 KOs) is reportedly considering staying at Bridgerweight to defend his newly won WBC title against Kevin Lerena next following his first round knockout victory over champion Lukasz Rozanski (15-1, 14 KOs) last Friday night at the Hala na Podpromiu, Rzeszow.
Okolie weighed more than IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk for his fight against Rozanski, coming in at 224 lbs to Usyk’s 223.5 lbs for his victory over WBC champion Tyson Fury.
Is Bridgerweight a Dead End?
Why would Okolie need to stop at Bridgerweight rather than go straight up to heavyweight? That’s what I want to know.
More importantly, what’s the purpose of Okolie staying at Bridgerweight to defend his trinket title rather than moving up to heavyweight to go after the bigger money fight?
Is it a foxhole for Okolie to hide in from the fighting the talented fighters at heavyweight, who hit just as hard as him but have more ability? Okolie is 31-years-old. Why stay at bridgerweight and get older without moving up?
The bridgerweight division is a pointless one, as fighters that big should be at heavyweight. It’s unclear why the WBC created the weight class in the first place because fighters can make more money competing at heavyweight.
Okolie’s Illusion of Heavyweight Challengers
After the fight, Okolie said that heavyweights could come down in weight to fight him at Bridgerweight, and cruiserweight could come up. Hopefully, Okolie isn’t under the false illusion that any notable heavyweights will move down to the bridgerweight division to fight him for his trinket title. That’s not happening.
Okolie sounds like he wants to stay at Bridgerweight despite the division lacking popular fighters for him to make money.
Kevin Lerena (30-3, 13 KOs) lost his last fight at heavyweight last March. It seems like he would be a waste of time for Okolie.
If Okolie moves up to heavyweight, he can fight these guys to get some experience:
Murat Gassiev
Ivan Dychko
Luis Ortiz
Fabio Wardley
Justin Huni
Arslanbek Makhmudov
Joe Joyce
Dereck Chisora
Efe Ajagba
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