Lawrence Okolie and Kevin Lerena pay tribute to the #PurseBidHeads as their WBC flyweight title fight heads to a September 20 trial. Photo credit: WBC Boxing
The bridge weight division joined the purse festivities.
Reigning WBC titlist Lawrence Okolie and mandatory challenger Kevin Lerena are being forced to go the auction route. The two sides reneged on a previous deal, which drew the scorn of the sanctions body – albeit to the delight of the #PurseBidHeads nation. A hearing will be held in London on September 20, on the eve of Riyadh Season’s debut in the UK market.
“The mandatory title fight has to go back to a purse,” WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman confirmed on Friday. “The original agreement expired.”
According to WBC rules, ten percent of the highest accepted bid will be escrowed as a winning bonus. Okolie (20-1, 15 knockouts) will receive the favorable end of a 70-30 split of the remaining balance.
Environment has Poland’s Lukasz Rozanski in the first round to win the title on May 26 in Rzeszow. “The Big Sauce” knocked out Rozanski (15-1, 14 KOs) three times to capture the WBC featherweight title.
With the win, Okolie became a two-division titleholder — for those who recognize the weight class created by the WBC, anyway. The 2016 Great Britain Olympian previously held the WBO cruiserweight title. That reign ended in his first career loss when he dropped a decision to Chris Billam-Smith last May in Bournemouth, England.
South Africa’s Lerena (30-3, 14 KOs) enters the title fight on the heels of a loss. However, it came at heavyweight and in a credible performance. The 32-year-old southpaw was outpointed by undefeated heavyweight Justis Huni on the March 8 Anthony Joshua-Francis Ngannou card in Riyadh.
It snapped a two-fight winning streak following a third-round knockout loss to Daniel Dubois. Lerena nearly won the secondary WBA heavyweight title after knocking out Dubois three times in the opening round of their December 2022 fight. Dubois rallied to drop him twice en route to the win.
Lerena previously held the IBO cruiserweight title, a bigger deal in South Africa than in the rest of the world. The creation of the bridgeweight division was perfect for him because he is too small for heavyweight. He outpointed Ryad Merhy in their WBC title eliminator last May 13 in Kempton Park, South Africa.
