Lawrence Okolie hopes to fight Dillian Whyte in 2025 at heavyweight.
The Briton is fighting this week at bridgerweight, against the WBC champion, Lukasz Rozanski, in Poland.
Okolie last fought in May, at cruiserweight, when he lost against Chris Billam-Smith, losing his WBO belt in the process.
His fight against Rozanski takes place on May 24, and looking to that fight, Okolie told Betway that he was aiming for a win.
“God willing I win this fight, there will be a defence of the belt and in 2025 I think it will be time to move up to heavyweight. I want some more weight, build up some more muscle and get in there with the bigger guys,” he said.
He continued: “I would want to fight Dillian Whyte at heavyweight. Other than that, it’s a case of wherever the chips lay. Obviously from when I was a Commonwealth champion, we had a little run in at that time and when I said I wanted the fight and believed I would beat him, it was brushed under the table as if ‘this guy is a Commonwealth cruiserweight’.
“But I have managed to become a world champion and am about to become a two-weight world champion so if I am able to do that then why not.
“From what I remember at the time, he had a much bigger reach and a bigger name but he kept using it to spout negativity towards me at the time so I said something and it escalated from there. If the opportunity came, that’s the fight I would grab with both hands because I think it would be a good fight for both of us to have a punch up. I think Dillian gets hurt often late on in fights so I think a KO is what I would be aiming for.
“He is a fringe world level guy and has been at the world level status but if I am going to go in at heavyweight and compete for a world title, I have to be able to beat someone like Dillian and it would be a great fight.
“He’s been a dog, been in big fights, and hasn’t been afraid to fight anyone so I think he has had a good career for where he came from. He wasn’t able to win a world title, but he attempted that against Tyson Fury and lost to world champions and they’re the only people he has lost to. He’s only lost to the top-tier heavyweights but what is he like now at this age? It’s hard to say, I don’t know.”
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