Lawrence Okolie has claimed that a jibe about his opponent Richard Riakporhe’s rumoured romance with Madonna was responsible for their having to be separated at the premiere of Creed III in 2023.
On the occasion of his second fight at heavyweight, the 32 year old will fight Riakporhe – who will be making his heavyweight debut – on April 5 at the Co-op Live in Manchester, on the undercard of Dillian Whyte-Joe Joyce.
Riakporhe, like Okolie, has moved up following a defeat by Chris Billam-Smith for the WBO cruiserweight title, and insisted that that defeat prevented them from fighting, despite their status as long-term rivals, before 2025.
Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions on Monday, as previously reported by BoxingScene, confirmed the first dates of their new broadcast agreement with DAZN, which starts in April. Following the conclusion of their agreement with TNT Sports they will also, on May 10, promote Leigh Wood-Antony Cacace, and on May 17, Josh Taylor-Ekow Essuman.
“I didn’t actually disrespect him,” Okolie said in response to Riakporhe’s explanation of their history. “I went over to him, and I said, ‘Madonna’s old now’, and that set it off. That was all. The rest was on camera.
“I don’t really take eye contact and that stuff seriously. He does look very nervous in and around me – that’s what it feels like. [But] it’s not about eye contact, it’s about throwing punches.
“I’m gonna deal with you, and deal with you in good fashion, and then you can go back to kissing Madonna and your modelling career. We’ll leave it at that.”
“He came in my space, I didn’t like it, and I just saw red and tried to get him out of there,” Riakporhe, 35, had said from the top table of the same press conference. “But then I realised, this is not a ring. I didn’t control myself – I had some advice from people around me. ‘Look – calm down, calm down’. Then we both went our separate ways.
“I looked on the internet; it went completely viral. I was getting messages from my mum and dad, asking me what happened, and I kinda regretted the whole thing. I was getting told off.
“I’m a calm guy, but at the same time I’ve got a temper. Once that goes – it takes a lot to get there – but when it goes I turn into a different individual. I just don’t like people that disrespect me.
“I’m really calm, and chilled [today], and just enjoying the vibes. It’s a brilliant event that’s gonna happen. I’m on a different vibe today. But it will change. You can see in my eyes – I’m not here to play. There’s a big opportunity for me to change my life, so I’m gonna grab it with both hands.”
Speaking in February 2023, Okolie had previously said of the incident: “I walked up to him and said ‘Hey mate, you alright?’ He was kind of shocked that I walked up to him. I said ‘You been calling me out, now I’m here, live in the flesh so do you want to do this?’ He was like ‘Yeah, I have been calling you out but now I’m here’ and I could see him really like getting pumped up. I was thinking, ‘What’s wrong with this guy?’ ‘Relax brother and have a conversation.’ Then he saw red, he pushed me, and it turned into a whole ruckus. I didn’t walk up to him with the idea of having a fight.”
They, similarly, offered different accounts regarding why it has taken two years for a date between them to follow.
Okolie lost his title to Billam-Smith in May 2023, and Billam-Smith successfully defended it against Riakporhe the following June – a month after Okolie defeated Poland’s Lukasz Rozanski in the lightly regarded bridgerweight division.
“It was supposed to happen when I fought Chris Billam-Smith,” Riakporhe said. “I signed a contact to face Lawrence Okolie straight after. It was based on me getting the W. I didn’t get the W, so it changed the course of things. Finally it’s gonna happen and we can settle the score once and for all.
“[At heavyweight I’ll offer] bigger punches; heavier weights; big bombs. This is what people love to see – knockouts. Anytime I land, it’s a problem. I understand exactly what I’m capable of – it’s going to be painful.”
“I’ve been a level above him for a long time,” Okolie countered. “From the amateurs; Olympics; pro. I was world champion. I’m always steaming forwards – now we’re here. I’ve tried to make this fight with other promoters, and it hasn’t come off.
“I expect to just break him.
“I’m the best on this table, let alone Richard Riakporhe, so it is what it is.”
Whyte, Joyce, Queensberry’s new signing Delicious Orie, and David Adeleye and Jamie TKV – all of whom will also fight on the same promotion – were sat at the same table.
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