LAWRENCE Okolie will make his highly anticipated return to the heavyweight division in a 12-round clash against Kevin Lerena on July 19 at Wembley Stadium.
The fight takes place on the undercard of the much-anticipated rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois.
The stakes are high for the former WBO cruiserweight champion as he looks to embed himself as a dangerous heavyweight contender.
After losing his WBO cruiserweight title to Chris Billam-Smith in 2023, ‘The Sauce’ made a short stop in the WBC’s newly formed bridgerweight division, dispatching Lukasz Rozanski in Poland last May to win the world title.
Okolie (21-1, 16 KOs) vacated the title in a bid to mix it with top contenders in the heavyweight division.
Londoner Okolie returns to make his second heavyweight appearance after his late 2024 victory over Germany’s Hussein Muhamed, which took place at Wembley’s neighbouring OVO Arena on Queensberry’s ‘The Magnificent Seven’ card.
The WBC’s No. 1 contender will doubtlessly solidify his position in boxing’s most storied division with a victory over ‘KO Kid’ Kevin Lerena (31-3, 15 KOs).
The South African is perhaps best known for his fight with Wembley headliner Daniel Dubois, in which he dropped him three times in the first round.
Dubois fought through the crisis and stopped Lerena for the only time in his career in the third round.
The hugely experienced 33-year-old gave highly rated Australian heavyweight Justis Huni a tough test in Saudi Arabia last year; however, he lost out unanimously.
He is also the more active of the two fighters, coming off May’s TKO victory over Serhiy Radchenko in his native South Africa.
The WBC Silver title will also be on the line, as Okolie looks to make his first defence after winning the vacant belt against Muhamed.
Lawrence Okolie vs. Kevin Lerena Fight Prediction
Okolie will be looking to make a statement against Lerena on the undercard of arguably one of the biggest fights of the year at Wembley.
He holds a significant height and reach advantage (6’5”, 82½”) over Lerena (6’1”, 74”), who is the more natural cruiserweight of the pair.
Naturally, Okolie is better suited to a heavyweight style and possesses both knockout power and the tools to control distance.
He showed heavyweight finishing ability in his fight against Muhamed and will look to stop the South African in violent fashion.
A stoppage victory would raise his stock, potentially setting up an entertaining clash with a fringe world-level opponent — Zhilei Zhang, Filip Hrgović, or Dillian Whyte are just a few examples of fighters I’d like to see Okolie face at heavyweight.
That said, Lerena is a solid fighter and a tough test, albeit one Okolie should pass. It will be interesting to see how he handles Lerena’s southpaw stance and persistent pressure.
I believe the taller, rangier man will score a stoppage victory in the middle rounds, though Lerena will, of course, play his part in what is set to be an exciting clash in London.
