Richard Riakporhe says the biggest cruiserweight fight in the world is one between himself and Lawrence Okolie.
The two Londoners, ranked fourth and second, tried to settle their rivalry when they both attended a premiere of Creed III earlier this year. Even though the situation was prevented from getting out of hand the footage, captured on a mobile phone, was soon seen by thousands of boxing fans online. But when will they settle their feud in the ring?
“I think it will happen very soon. I think that’s the biggest cruiserweight fight in the world,” said Riakporhe when speaking to Boxing News.
“A lot of fights don’t materialise, especially the heavyweights, it’s annoying. We want to be an example. Gervonta Davis v Ryan Garcia is just an example of how it should be. Somebody lost but everybody’s credibility and brand equity increased despite the loss. Everybody’s talking about them now. They’re known all around the world. We have to mix it.”
Okolie 19-0 (14) was in action last month against David Light beating the New Zealander on points in a fight where there was little danger of the Brit losing his unbeaten record. The reaction to the contest, however, was not positive. Okolie’s performance, his first outing in 13 months, was criticised because of the negative style that the 30-year-old continues to employ in the ring. Riakporhe 16-0 (12) believes that personal issues out of the ring played their part but nonetheless was bored by what he watched.
“How can I put this. I was watching and I got to round three or four, got on the phone, watched round seven, fell asleep, woke up and it was round 11 and thought damn this is dreadful, this is not exciting. A lot of punching and holding. It actually became cringe to watch.
“I’m not watching it from a haters point of view because I know I shall share the ring with that man very soon. I want him to perform very well. That will help sell the fight even more and we’ll make more money, it’s a no-brainer, but that was frustrating to watch. Imagine what the fans felt. It was terrible.”
Riakporhe revealed to BN that his status as a free agent is now over and that he has re-signed with Boxxer where ‘The Midnight Train’ will continue to fight on Sky Sports.
“We got some good news and it’s just a matter of time before it gets released,” he said.
“We’re in such a good position, we’ve got options. Everything is pretty much done. The world title opportunities will come and I will be boxing for one this year.”
