Lawrence Okolie was set to box longtime cruiserweight rival Richard Riakporhe up at heavyweight during Queensberry’s first show on DAZN in Manchester two weekends ago, before an undisclosed training injury shelved the 32-year-old’s return, reports ringmagazine.com.
Now, the former two-division world champion (21-1, 16 KOs) has fully recovered from the issue, which saw him unable to train for a few weeks in the build-up to his cancelled Riakporhe clash and is ready to begin a pain-free training camp under Joe Gallagher again.
He told Boxing King Media over the weekend that his injury surfaced before the stacked Last Crescendo card in Riyadh on February 22, half-hoping ample rest would help do the trick but to no avail.
“One of the sparring days, it was too much so I was told to rest and did for two weeks. Sparred afterwards and it came back again so there was no way I could fight like that. Now? I’m ready to crack on with camp anytime.”
When asked about rescheduling the Riakporhe matchup, he remained non-committal.
“I don’t know, he’s not the direction I’m going at heavyweight or at the forefront of my journey, I’m trying to become a three-division champion so we’re looking to bigger and better.”
No. 1-ranked with the WBC and number five with the WBO, Okolie has found himself almost having to justify such a high ranking in a new weight class – having only just announced himself within the division after stopping former sparring partner Hussein Muhamed inside a round last December.
“The ranking is fantastic but I still have to fight, we pushed for Kabayel but have to go a different route because he’s not fighting for a few months.”
He delved deeper into the Kabayel conversation on talkSPORT, where he said: “We’ve had lots of conversations… desperately tried to get Kabayel but he and his team don’t want to fight again until September, so I’m cracking on and going to have a summer fight. I’m eating and drinking as a heavyweight, so now I can perform at my best.
“Yes he’s looked good, beating Zhang, Frank Sanchez and Makhmudov, but either way I want to be a world champion in my third weight class and he’s one of the only ones I’d have to beat.”
In the interim, Okolie is seeking a worthy dance partner and feels like an all-British battle with a longtime world-level contender could satisfy plenty, rather than revisit the Riakporhe matchup.
He said his team offered fights to Joseph Parker, Joe Joyce and Dillian Whyte – all three were rejected – the latter two were set to box in the Manchester headliner before Whyte’s hand injury saw former IBF interim title challenger Filip Hrgovic step up on short-notice.
