WBC Bridgerweight champion Łukasz Różański (15-0, 14 KOs) weighed in at 223 lbs, while former WBO cruiserweight champ Lawrence Okolie (19-1, 14 KOs) scaled in at 223.5 lbs on Thursday at their weigh-in for Friday night’s clash on May 24th at the Podpromie Arena in Rzeszow, Poland. The event will be shown live on Sky Sports.
Okolie’s Ambitious Plan
Okolie is coming off a year layoff and a defeat in his last fight. He’s motivated, looking to relieve Rozanski of his WBC Bridgerweight title and then release it like a fisherman to go after the heavyweights.
Rozanski, 38, will be a good test to determine whether the 6’5″ Okolie is cut out to fight at heavyweight against the powerful fighters in that division. It’s already a huge jump up in weight for Okolie, going from cruiserweight with their 200-lb limit up to Bridgerweight with the 224-lb limit.
Okolie’s Knockout Prediction
“You’re going into a foreign country and going against a guy with a 90% KO ratio. You need to be feeling yourself and up for it,” said Lawrence Okolie to talkSport Boxing about his fight against Lukasz Rozanski on Friday night in Poland.
“We’re happy here and looking forward to tomorrow. That’s why I decided to go in and get the KO. Those fights don’t just happen if I want a 12-round decision,” said Okolie about what he needs to do for him to increase his chances of getting fights against the likes of Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte when he makes the move up to heavyweight after this clash against Rozanski for his WBC bridgerweight title.
“They happen if I go in there and smash him, and that’s where I feel the pressure to go in there and put in a performance,” said Okolie.
“You’ve got to give Lawrence a lot of credit coming over here and challenging Lukasz in his own backyard because that shows how keen he is to win this world title and move up into the heavyweight division.
Looking at Lukasz Rozanski’s style, he will come and fight. Lawrence Okolie knows exactly what he’s going into here. They’re trained for this meticulously,” said Oliver.
