Lawrence Okolie insists his confidence is high going into his fight against unbeaten WBC World Bridgerweight champion Lukasz Rozanski this Friday night live on Sky Sports at the Hala na Podpromiu, Rzeszow, Poland.
Okolie (19-1, 14 KOs) lost his WBO cruiserweight title in his last fight against Chris Billiam-Smith last May, and he’s been sitting inactive for the past twelve months heading into Friday’s fight against the dangerous puncher Rozanski (15-0, 14 KOs).
I don’t know how Okolie feels confident after how he looked against Billiam-Smith because he was getting royally worked over in that loss. Rozanski is on another level in terms of power and knockout ability, and he could make easy work of the former WBO cruiserweight champion Okolie.
Chin Concerns and Rozanski’s Power
The 6’5″ Okolie hit the deck three times against Billiam-Smith in that fight, and it doesn’t look good for him going into the match against the harder, lethal-punching Rozanski.
Okolie is facing a bigger puncher with a Mike Tyson-esque style, and he’ll be fighting him in front of his own Polish fans. It doesn’t bode well for Okolie unless his chin has improved since his loss last year. I don’t think it has.
Rozanski looked powerful in his last two fights, destroying Alen Babic and Artur Szpilka in first round knockouts. Granted, those are lower-level fighters, but the way Rozanski obliterated them, he could do that to anyone, including Okolie.
The 38-year-old Rozanski doesn’t let you breathe with how he attacks his opponents, and you’re forced to fight for your life against this guy.
Confidence and Game Plan
“Strength is going to be back. Explosiveness, especially early on, and composure. I can focus on the actual game plan rather than other stuff,” said Lawrence Okolie to Secondsout about how he’ll be different at Bridgerweight compared to when he was fighting at cruiserweight.
“Rozanski is a good-sized man. He’s a big man. If you’re going to box a world champion that has a 90% KO ratio, it’s a good way to test it to see. Now you can get some bigger ones.
“My confidence is sky-high after that fight,” said Okolie about his loss to Chris Billiam-Smith, in which he went the full 12-round distance. “I’ve trained for 12 rounds since 2019.
“For him [Rozanski], his confidence will be high. He’s been knocking everyone out in a couple of rounds. That confidence will be like an early wave, and we’ll see how it goes.
“I never felt I was outclassed at any point in that fight,” said Okolie about his loss to Billiam-Smith.
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