Lawrence Okolie Outlines Tactics for Richard Riakporhe Contest

Former two-division world champion Lawrence Okolie (21-1, 16 KOs) is preparing for his upcoming heavyweight bout against fellow Briton Richard Riakporhe (17-1, 13 KOs). Okolie recently shared insights into his strategy for the fight.

After losing his WBO cruiserweight title to Chris Billam-Smith in 2023, Okolie moved up in weight. He quickly captured the WBC bridgerweight title by knocking out Lukasz Rozanski in the first round. Okolie then made his heavyweight debut in December, stopping Hussein Muhamed in the opening round while weighing a substantial 260 pounds.

Speaking about his plans for the Riakporhe fight, Okolie stated: “I’ll likely weigh about the same as my last bout. My goal is to overwhelm him. Against certain heavyweights, I may need to box differently, but for this fight, I want to plant my feet and work on him effectively.”

Okolie believes the move to heavyweight will allow him to fight more aggressively than at cruiserweight. “At cruiserweight, I would have been less robust and more cautious. In this fight, I’m going to surprise him with my approach,” he explained.

Looking beyond the Riakporhe bout, Okolie has his sights set on title opportunities. He expressed interest in facing the winner of Joe Joyce vs. Dillian Whyte, as well as potentially challenging for the WBC interim title against the victor of Zhilei Zhang vs. Agit Kabayel.

Okolie and Riakporhe will clash on April 5 at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England, as part of the “Heavy Impact” event.