Lawrence ‘The Sauce’ Okolie will face Kevin Lerena in his second fight as a heavyweight.
Lawrence Okolie made his heavyweight debut against Hussein Muhamed in December 2024 on the Magnificent Seven card in London.
Okolie was set to face Richard Riakporhe next on Queensberry’s first card with DAZN, which also featured Joe Joyce vs Dillian Whyte, though Whyte withdrew and was replaced with Filip Hrgovic.
Okolie has since called out Whyte, but is unlikely to face him as Whyte will face Moses Itauma next. Instead, Okolie’s second fight at heavyweight will come against Kevin Lerena, who dropped Daniel Dubois three times.
Two fights before his move to heavyweight, Okolie lost his cruiserweight title to Chris Billam-Smith, and just one fight after, Okolie cleaned out a near-empty division.
Photo by James Chance/Getty ImagesLawrence Okolie won a Bridgerweight world title with just two minutes and 55 seconds
Okolie came off the loss against Billam-Smith and went straight into a world title fight in Poland next.
Okolie faced 15-0 Lukasz Rozanski, who defeated Alen Babic, for the WBC Bridgerweight title.
Bridgerweight, named after a heroic boy called Bridger Walker, who saved his sister from a dog attack, is a new division placed between cruiserweight and heavyweight.
In less than three minutes, Okolie dismantled Rozanski, and was a two-weight world champion.
He has since moved up to heavyweight in the hopes of becoming a three-weight champion, with Kevin Lerena being just another step to get there.
Dubois thinks Okolie will KO Lerena, whilst Lerena, who is the current bridgerweight champion, assures fans he is taking the fight seriously.
Lawrence Okolie vs Kevin Lerena – The statsLawrence OkolieKevin LerenaNicknameThe SauceThe KO KidNationalityBritishSouth AfricanBoxing record21-131-3Last three fightsHussein Muhamed – W TKO1
Lukasz Rozanski – W TKO1
Chris Billam-Smith – L MDSerhiy Radchenko – W TKO3
Justis Huni – L UD
Senad Gashi – W UDHeight & weight in last fight6’5″ & 260.75lbs6’1″ & 223.5lbsNotable opponentsChris Billam-Smith, Krzysztof Glowacki, Michel CieslakJustis Huni, Daniel Dubois, Mariusz WachCareer duration8 years14 years