Exclusive interview with WBO cruiser champ Lawrence Okolie
'The Sauce' discusses next opponent, Mairis Briedis unification, and growing business interests outside of the ring
WBO World cruiserweight champion Lawrence Okolie (17-0, 14KOs) is back in London after a short stint training in Dubai with Anthony Joshua, preparing for his headlining title defence to newest challenger Michal Cieslak (21-1, 15KOs) at the O2 Arena in London on February 27, live on DAZN.
‘The Sauce’ revealed his plans exclusively to BBN about how he plans to make a statement in his next performance against the Polish title contender, who has only lost once during his career in his first world title challenge to WBC ruler Ilunga Makabu (28-2, 25KOs) in 2020. Despite the Congolese’s devastating power, knocking out 25 from 28 foes, he couldn’t stop his 32-year-old durable challenger, as the pair traded furiously from the first bell.
The 27-year-old from Hackney firstly recognised how his next opponent is a real threat to his crown, “I think he’s good, I think he’ll pose some problems if I’m not 100 per cent and he’ll come for it.
“You just have to watch a bit of him to know he’s coming to have a tear-up, so it’ll be interesting to see how I calm him down and take him out, and it’ll be good for the champions to see, because the other champions will see that and be like ‘Ah wow, hold on’.
“What the statement I’m trying to make with him is showing that this is what you did against another champion, and this is what I’m gonna do against him; simple as, so it’ll be fun.”
Okolie is managed by his friend, mentor and inspiration, Anthony Joshua. When he was just 17, working in his local McDonalds branch, the teenager watched 'AJ' win gold in the 2012 Olympics and it inspired him to work harder intraining and take his boxing to the next level, which saw him compete in the next Olympics in 2016 after just 15 amateur bouts.
The pair have been training and sparring together in Dubai recently, “Yeah, we did some body sparring, nothing to the head really, just working on inside work, some techniques, just being physical as well, so it was good. I’m going to start sparring next week and then push on from there.”
The unbeaten cruiserweight won the WBO bauble against another Polishman in March 2020, Krzystof Glowacki, by stopping the former champion in six. He then made short work of unbeaten challenger Dilan Prasovic from Montenegro in his maiden defence, decking him in round two and finishing him off in the third.
Ahead of his second title defence, he has noticed distinctions between being the champion instead of the challenger, “I think the biggest difference will probably be is that everyone is researching me before they fight me.
“I am now seven weeks-eight weeks at a time with these people that I’m boxing, where they’re gonna be thinking of it for a year… the longer that I’m champion that’s the longer they’re gonna be planning it all, that’s one of the main things.
“I was already planning how I would beat all the champions on my way up; now I’m champion I believe that’s what they’ll be doing.”
However, being a wanted man only works to motivate him further, he revealed, “For me, I’ve got an air of confidence as a champion. I feel an obligation as well when I’m training to train diligently, so it’s a mixture, but at the same time when it comes down to having a fight it’s the same thing you’ll do as a challenger as a champion, and that’s fight hard.”
The Londoner will appear at the O2 Arena in Greenwich for a sixth time in his career, to which he acknowledged the venue is quickly becoming a fortress for his fans, “I’ve definitely been there a few times, even just as a fan of other people’s fights and other spectacles there. It’s one of the best places.”
Headlining as world champion at a 20,000 capacity venue is as big as it gets, but the ambitious boxer is looking at bigger fights by unifying cruiserweight titles before making a move up to heavyweight at some time in the future. Promoter Kalle Sauerland has gone on record to say he is confident of making the unification fight between his IBF champion Mairis Briedis and Okolie in the summer, but there’s not been an update since.
Okolie revealed all he knows on the potential match, “I wouldn’t know, I try to stay on top of it all but just people say this and this in this interview, and that in that real meeting… it’s interesting, so I don’t get my hopes up too high, I just focus on this next one and putting on a good performance and then we’ll see how it goes after that, but I’m up for a tear-up!”
He continued to share his plans for the year, “Yeah, just to go ahead and solidify myself outside of boxing, in terms of business, and in the ring to just remain undefeated and just work on techniques and be the best fighter I can be.”
The athlete is also working hard on his career outside the ropes by starting up his own businesses and becoming a sponsored athlete with boohooMAN.
He expanded on details of the exciting partnership, “On a personal level, I know the owners so that helps me in terms of business acumen and just in terms of chopping up some conversation with them and, as a brand, as a whole, they’ve got great marketing and PR and stuff like that to help, so it’s all positives.
“They’ve got really good, comfortable stuff to train in and obviously if you feel good and look while you’re training, you’re gonna be able to push a little bit more out of yourself.”
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The East London University student then introduced his newest project, Okolie Fit, an online coaching portal for clients looking to get fit and learn from the best, “Yeah, so Okolie Fit, it’s been an interest of mine. Obviously, I was overweight growing up and I knew what that did with my confidence, and I was getting bullied and once I lost the weight, I started feeling a lot better about myself and started handling situations differently from how I did, and I pushed on from that to boxing and becoming a world champion.
“So, I think it’s important that everyone feels, not only about how they look, but in terms of how they approach the day from a motivational standpoint, so me and my team of strength and condition coaches, nutritionists… I’ve paid for the best.
“To be a world champion, you’re kind of put on a platform, so everyday people turn up and get interaction with myself and the team, and just hit their targets, so I’m really excited to see how that’s going to go over the next few years.”
Okolie faces Cieslak on February 27, live on DAZN.
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