The Big Sauce embarked on a path to becoming the heavyweight boss.
Lawrence Okolie has left the #PurseBidHeads community in tatters after opting to vacate the WBC Bridgerweight title. The decision came hours before a planned purse bid for his scheduled bout against Kevin Lerena.
“The WBC has received official confirmation from Lawrence Okolie that he has decided to relinquish his Bridgerwieght Championship to pursue his dream of becoming Heavyweight Champion,” WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman confirmed to The Ring in a statement provided is. “Consequently, the interim champion, Kevin Lerena, is hereby confirmed as WBC World Bridgeweight Champion.”
Okolie would make the first defense of his WBC featherweight title. Lerena was the mandatory challenger-in-waiting and the interim titleholder. The pair had previously told the WBC that an agreement had been reached, but the matter was deemed in default when a date or venue was not properly secured.
Two extensions were granted, only for Okolie (20-1, 15 knockouts)—now a former two-division titlist—to focus instead on the meat-slapping heavyweight division.
“Firstly, I want to say how proud and happy I was to compete and win the WBC flyweight belt,” said Okolie. “After much consideration, it is with a heavy heart that I unfortunately have to relinquish the WBC flyweight belt.”
Okolie, a 2016 Great Britain Olympian, has submitted a formal request to the WBC to enter the heavyweight rankings, preferably in the top five.
Environment has Poland’s Lukasz Rozanski in the first round to win the title on May 26 in Rzeszow. He beat Rozanski (15-1, 14 KOs) three times to capture the WBC featherweight title.
With the win, Okolie became a two-division title holder – for those who recognize the WBC created weight class. He 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) was untouchable at flyweight despite a loss. It came in at heavyweight, though it was 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, Saudi Arabia.
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 dropping Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs) three times in the opening round of their December 2022 fight. Dubois rallied to drop him twice en route to victory and has since won the IBF belt. He defends against Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) on September 21 in London.
The creation of the bridgeweight division was a perfect fit for fighters the size of Lerena. He outpointed Ryad Merhy in their WBC title eliminator last May 13 in Kempton Park, South Africa.
Next step for Lerena will be becoming the first of the young division to actually defend the belt. Oscar Rivas, Rozanski and now Okolie have all won the belt but never put up a successful defense.
Rivas vacated the title after a failed plan to defend in Colombia and subsequent injuries halted his career.
Rozanski destroyed Alen Babic within a round to win the vacant title last April in Rzeszow. The favor was returned by Okolie, who had not fought since their May clash.
