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Agreement reached for Lawrence Okolie vs. Kevin Lerena fight

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It seems that the next fight of Briton Lawrence Okolie is already a foregone conclusion.

According to the sanctioning body, the 31-year-old fighter from Hackney has agreed terms to defend his WBC airy heavyweight title in a fight against left-handed Kevin Lerena.

Okolie (20-1, 15 KOs) returned to form in May when he knocked out Łukasz Różański in one round to take the belt from the Pole in his own country. With trainer Joe Gallagher in Okolie’s corner for the first time, the former Olympian found little resistance against the inactive Różański, and as the challenger began to find his mark and let go of his hands, the fight was all but over.

The win comes almost exactly a year after he lost his unbeaten record and WBO cruiserweight title to Chris Billam-Smith in Bournemouth. With a quick win under his belt, Okolie was eager to get back in the ring as soon as possible and it looks like Lerena (30-3, 14 KOs) will be next.

Lerena, the mandatory challenger for the WBC Bridgerweight title, will face a British opponent for the second time in four fights, having lost to Daniel Dubois in a wild clash over 18 months ago. The South African had Dubois in trouble in the first round after he floored him with a left hook, and then a leg injury knocked down the heavyweight twice more. Dubois pulled himself together and got the job done in the third round, to his relief.

Points victories over Ryad Merhy and Senad Gashi took Lerena to Saudi Arabia to face Justis Huni in March. The Australian outboxed Lerena in 10 rounds but had to survive a massive scare with 90 seconds left in the final session when he was caught by a powerful left hook that caused Huni a lot of trouble but he held on and won. Lerena gained a huge amount of respect and recognition for the competition, having lost his mother during the week of the fight. The 32-year-old later hinted that he might return to Bridger’s weight and now looks set to fight the 6ft 5in Okolie in the near future.

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Boxing

Will David Morrell be too powerful for Benavidez?

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Image: Will David Morrell Be Too Powerful for Benavidez?

Cuban David Morrell will bring a lot of power and technical skills to his fight with former WBC super middleweight champion David Benavidez on January 25 in Las Vegas.

Benavidez will be facing by far the biggest blow of his career and a guy with more experience due to years of playing on an amateur team in his native Cuba.

“Mexican monster” Benavidez’s last fight against Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15 showed that it is not a good idea for Morrell to have a fight with him on the scorecards. This fight looked to be a draw or a close win for Benavidez, but his decision went 12 rounds.

If Morrell does not want similar treatment, he will have to knock out Benavidez on January 25. Fortunately for Morrell, he has tremendous punching power and can throw judges off balance.

Morrell (11-0, 9 KO) has strength that Benavidez (29-0, 24 KO) has never encountered before in his 11-year professional career and may not be able to withstand shots like that from the Cuban.

In Benavidez’s 175-pound debut against Oleksandr Gvozdyk, we saw that his endurance was that of a six-rounder and his strength was nowhere near the level of the 168-pound weight class. Benavidez has never been a power puncher. The reasons for its success are due to the following factors:

  1. Tender opposition
  2. High impact power
  3. Size advantage

Morrell has been calling out Benavidez for the past few years but has been ignored by him. Benavidez preferred to face ancient veterans for obvious reasons. It is believed that the only reason Benavidez finally agreed to fight David Morrell is because of his unimpressive performance against Radivoje “Sizzling Rod” Kalajdzic on August 3.

Although 26-year-old Morrell dominated former airy heavyweight world title challenger Kalajdzic (29-3, 21 KO), repeatedly injuring him, he failed to obtain a knockout and looked defenseless.

The scores were 117-111, 117-111 and 118-110 in favor of Morrell. This fight showed that Morrell needed to land more punches when stunning his opponents, as Kalajdzic was injured four times in the fight, but he kept him off balance by not connecting his shots to finish the job.

Benavidez’s last four opponents

– Oleksandr Gvozdyk
– Demetrius Andrade
– Caleb’s plant
– David Lemieux

Last update: 10/09/2024

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News Summary; Bakole, Okolie, Charlo, Matias

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ANOTHER intriguing heavyweight bout could have consequences for Daniel Dubois.

The IBF has called for a final eliminator between Martin Bakole and Agit Kabayel, with the winner becoming mandatory champion for his champion Dubois.

In August, Bakole had the best performance of his career, defeating American hope Jared Anderson in five rounds. Meanwhile, Kabayel was among the top ten contenders after victories over Arslanbek Makhmudov and Frank Sanchez, respectively.

Dubois, who impressively defeated Anthony Joshua last month, could face “AJ” again if a rematch can be agreed.


LAWRENCE OKOLINE looks set to finally move up to the heavyweight division after vacating the WBC bridgeweight title.

The 31-year-old successfully pitted in the weight category created in 2020, beating the losing Łukasz Różański in one round five months ago. Okolie, who held the WBO cruiserweight title from March 2021 to May 2023, has often spoken about his desire to join the sport’s most glamorous and historic weight class. The Londoner asked for a place in the top five of the WBC heavyweight rankings.

South Africa’s Kevin Lerena, the interim WBC bridgeweight belt holder, has now been elevated to full title status.


Charlo has not fought since November 2023.

WILL former WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo return to the ring soon?

The 34-year-old has been out of the game since November 2023, when he won a 10-round unanimous decision over Jose Benavidez Jr.

However, “Hit Man” Charlo posted a video of himself doing a shadow fight on social media with the caption, “The Grind Don’t Stop.” Trust me. LionsOnly December 14vol Houston, Texas. This date and this city put Charlo on the undercard of the Gervonta Davis vs. Lamont Roach, held at the Toyota Center in Houston. The same venue where Charlo last defended his 160-pound title against Juan Macias Montiel in June 2021.


SUBRIEL MATIAS will want to get back to winning away games and knocking out opponents on November 9 in Puerto Rico.

The 32-year-old ended his reign as IBF super lightweight champion in June this year when Liam Paro defeated Matias on points. Matias now has two losses to his name, but the heavy-handed Puerto Rican still has 20 wins, all 20 of which have come by distance.

Matias will face Roberto Ramirez – who was knocked out in five rounds against William Zepeda in 2020 – in a 10-round main event at the Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum in Bayamon, Puerto Rico.

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Usyk vs. Fury 2 undercard promises a disturbing heavyweight clash

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Undercard Usyk vs. Fury 2 has unleashed an unsettling heavyweight battle that could end in a win for the entire competition on December 21.

In a stunning move, former Matchroom player and Pay Per View regular Dave Allen is thrown into the lion’s den against a renowned striker in the division. Allen faces the fierce Johnny Fisher in Saudi Arabia.

Allen is taking his slice of the Riyad season pie without gaining any real traction since he was gasping for oxygen after being beaten in ten sickening rounds by David Price five years ago. ‘The White Rhino’ was forced to retire after a terrible beating from Price, who hit the Yorkshireman from pillar to post at the O2 Arena.

“Papi PPV” returned seven months after losing to Dojan Darch in a betting controversy that overshadowed the fight. Allen then parted ways with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom after a close relationship.

Eighteen months after the Darch scandal, Allen returned to his senior haunt in Sheffield to begin a comeback to secure the future of his newborn child.

Wins over Andrea Pesce [7-13-3]Milena Paunowa [5-8]and Michael Bassett [2-8]all with defeat and drops in the rankings, were somehow enough to give Allen another golden opportunity against ‘The Great’ Frazer Clarke last September. Not surprisingly, Allen was stopped in six rounds and suffered further damage in the form of a perforated eardrum.

After a few months of rest, Allen decided to return and resumed writing in Sheffield. He defeated fighters in four rounds with undesirable records, those who ultimately had no chance against an experienced heavyweight.

Jake Darnell [2-25 losing record] and Amine Boucetta [8-14 losing record] put Allen in the window as an apprentice of one of the emerging leaders of the future.

The uncomplicated fact is that Allen is still making a living from his Matchroom career, even though anyone with a basic knowledge of boxing knows that he has no chance of beating Fisher. Allen has become fodder, which is gloomy for a fighter who hasn’t been at his best since Tony Yoka got banged up for ten rounds.

Allen fans will argue that he beat out Lucas Browne, Ariel Bracamonte and Nick Webb. However, all three never came close to top-tier players and were proven to outperform their positions in losses.

Fisher will be there to pulverize Allen in what may turn out to be another David Price car crash for a likable character who doesn’t have to suffer any further punishment.

Things could have been worse for Allen, however, as Turki Alalshikh could have asked to match ‘The Doncaster De La Hoya’ with Moses Itauma.

Dave Allen reacts to disrespect from ‘Johnny Fisher KO’ fans.

but also Fisher v. Allenincludes the full Usyk vs. Fury 2 card Serhii Bohachuk vs. Israil Madrimov in a unique super welterweight fight, plus Moses This is going to hurt in attack against Demsey McKean.

Dennis McCann vs. Peter McGrail and Fury’s buddy Isaac Lowe vs. Lee McGregor will complement the event that will take place at the Kingdom Arena four days before Christmas.

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