Lawrence Okolie has decided to leave his WBC bridgerweight title behind and move up to heavyweight. The WBC recently announced this change, opening up new opportunities for Okolie in boxing's most prestigious division.
Okolie won the WBC bridgerweight title in May with an impressive first-round stoppage of Lukasz Rozanski. He was set to defend his title against Kevin Lerana, but those plans have been scrapped due to his move to heavyweight.
In a statement to the WBC, Okolie expressed mixed feelings about his decision:
"First I would like to state how proud and happy I was to compete for and win the WBC bridgerweight belt. After much consideration it is with a heavy heart that I have to unfortunately relinquish the WBC bridgerweight belt respectfully requesting to be rated in the top 5 in the heavyweight division."
The heavyweight division has seen some big changes lately. In May, Oleksandr Usyk became the undisputed champion by beating Tyson Fury. Then in September, Daniel Dubois defended the IBF belt against Anthony Joshua at Wembley Stadium, stopping him in the fifth round. Usyk had given up the IBF belt before this fight.
Looking ahead, Fury and Usyk are set to clash in December with the WBC, WBO, and WBA titles on the line.
The current WBC heavyweight rankings have Tyson Fury at number one, followed by Agit Kabyael, Martin Bakole, Zhilei Zhang, and Efe Ajagba. One of these fighters will soon be in a big match-up.
Okolie's move to heavyweight adds another exciting name to the mix. With his power and skills, he could shake things up in a division that's already full of action.
