Lawrence Okolie negotiates with two-time heavyweight world title challenger Luis “King Kong” Ortiz. The former WBO cruiserweight champion (21-1, 16 KOs) is taking a slow approach to acclimating to the heavyweight division.
Cuban Ortiz (34-3, 29 KO) turns 46 on March 29 but remains dangerous due to his power, size and technical skills. His ring IQ and athletic ability are superior to the 6’5″ Okolie. If Ortiz lands the uncoordinated “Sauce” Okolie, he could knock him out and ruin his heavyweight ambitions.
Okolie vs. Ortiz in preparation
Okolie’s two heavyweight fights came against Hussein Muhamed and Lukasz Rozanski. These two guys have been terrible and completely useless at developing Okolie in any real sense to prepare him for a world title shot. However, if the idea is to feed Okolie cans of tomatoes to make him look invincible, the way to go is to pit him against these types of fighters.
In Lawrence’s last fight at cruiserweight, he was defeated by Chris Billiam-Smith, losing by 12-round majority decision on May 27, 2023. This fight was the writing on the wall for Okolie as his time as ” champion” was over. Cruiser weight. Okolie would not do well with the new generation of talented fighters, Jai Opetaia and David Nyika. So he moved up to heavyweight to reinvent himself.
Ortiz is coming off a first-round knockout victory over Francisco Cordero last year on January 13 in Colombia. ‘King Kong’ Ortiz had been inactive for two years previously after losing a close 12-round unanimous decision to the former world champion. Andy Ruiz on September 14, 2022.
Ortiz gave Ruiz real hell in this fight, frequently landing the big 268-pounder. If Ruiz hadn’t dropped Luiz in the second and seventh rounds, the Cuban would have won. In Ortiz’s previous fight, on January 1, 2022, he knocked out former heavyweight champion Charles Martin in the sixth round.
Former cruiserweight champion Lawrence Okolie, who is now campaigning at heavyweight, is in talks to fight Luis Ortiz in the United Kingdom, a source told ESPN. Ortiz, 45, returned last January in a rust-free fight. It was his first fight since a competitive loss to Andy Ruiz in 2022.
-Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) January 20, 2025
