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Boxing

Lawrence Okolie names former heavyweight champion who would be a 'fantastic' bridgerweight opponent

Lawrence Okolie names former heavyweight champion who would be a 'fantastic' bridgerweight opponentDAZN

Lawrence Okolie would welcome Deontay Wilder into the bridgerweight division, and he thinks a fight between the pair would be "great."

Okolie won the WBC title in the relatively new weight class by knocking out Łukasz Różański in the first round of their bout in May, making the London native a two-weight champion following his reign as WBO cruiserweight titleholder.

The 31-year-old hasn't announced his next move, but he believes former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder would benefit from a move to bridgerweight and envisions an entertaining potential fight between the two.

"It would be fantastic," Okolie told Betway. "I think he will perform well at the weight because I think the majority of the fights he has lost lately have been because the fighters are just too big. When he is boxing the likes of Tyson Fury who outweighs him by 30,40 or 50 pounds, the same as Zheili Zhang, then it’s like that explosive power is not the same. If you’re 102kg and you’re fighting someone 108kg man then it’s not so bad but if you’re fighting someone at 118kg or 120kg, then the weight is going to show a little bit because the punches get soaked up a little bit more.

"I think it would be a great fight [between us] and he’ll always have what leaves people late and that’s his punching power and the name – Deontay Wilder. If I’m boxing Wilder, no matter what I say, I’m going to be a little bit apprehensive and think, ‘okay let’s see what his power is like’. I think it’s a great fight."

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