THE Lawrence Okolie-Richard Riakporhe rivalry could resume in April.
It’s been nearly two years since they almost came to blows at the European premiere of Creed III. Following their coming together it seemed inevitable that eventually their feud would be settled in the ring.
Since then, however, both have lost to Chris Billam-Smith in cruiserweight world title fights which dented their plans for divisional supremacy.
Okolie, 21-1 (16 KOs), is now a fully fledged heavyweight and after signing a promotional deal with Queensberry made a successful debut for Frank Warren’s team with a first round win against Hussein Muhamed in December.
Tomorrow (Monday) news is expected of Okolie’s next outing at heavyweight which is believed to be against Riakporhe, 17-1 (13 KOs), who will also be moving up to join the marquee division.
Following Derek Chisora’s victory at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester last night Boxing News caught up with the former WBO cruiserweight champion for an update.
“There’s a few heavyweights I’ve been aiming at and we’ll see which one gets done. But on Monday announcing obviously a big show so I’m up for whatever.”
Okolie and Riakporhe have a 76 percent knockout percentage between them and have proven in the past how deadly then can be when they let their hands go. Having the two go at it is a potentially thrilling prospect since their little dust-up two years ago but is their rivalry an appealing one at heavyweight?
“The guy’s similar size to me. I think it’s only right he moves up to heavyweight,” Okolie said.
“I’ll be explosive, I don’t know about him,” he added.
