Lawrence Okolie is hoping victory in the final month of 2025 will provide him with momentum heading into 2026.
The former world cruiserweight (and bridgerweight) champion and current WBC No. 1-ranked heavyweight will meet Ebenezer Tetteh in Nigeria on Sunday night.
Okolie defeated South African Kevin Lerena in his only previous bout in 2025, but he hurt his arm in the process and has subsequently needed time for it to heal.
“I think it's perfect,” Okolie told BoxingScene of the timing of the Tetteh fight. “I ended up getting an injury in my last fight, so the ability to go out there and make sure my arm’s good is great. It was three months of having to work around it, and then it’s been about two-and-a-half months of being able to use it again. So I couldn’t run, I couldn’t do that, so the moment I was able to punch, I said, ‘I want to attack.’ That’s where we’re at right now.”
Okolie, 22-1 (16 KOs), is trained by Joe Gallagher, though Gallagher – recovering from Stage 4 cancer – is not travelling to Lagos. Instead, he has sent Macaulay McGowan and Marcus Morrison to work with Okolie, who is confident about what will happen Sunday.
“Joe obviously couldn’t come,” Okolie said. “Without getting too much into his health stuff, it affects his immune system, and coming here you need certain jabs and whatever else. He wasn’t able to do it, and that’s fine. I think if I can’t beat someone like Tetteh without Joe, then with Joe, I don’t think I’ll be able to beat some of the top guys. So I’m going to handle the business.”
Gallagher, whose cancer battle has been well-documented, has fought the disease diligently while juggling his boxing duties. That has provided Okolie with a source of inspiration. It has also meant Okolie, 33, has had to be patient, although he knows he wants to work hard for his coach.
“It’s a mix between the two, I think,” Okolie explained. “Obviously, especially in the fights where I was in Manchester and in Boston, England, you could see his passion and know what he’s going through and realizing … I had to remind myself because of the way that he’s so passionate in the gym, putting in more work than some of the fighters were. Definitely, definitely inspirational, and I made him a promise I’m going to win a world heavyweight title next year, so I’m going to go on and handle that, and I think that everyone plays a part in everyone’s life.
“I think our involvement in boxing probably helped him with his fight, and now what he’s done is going to help me with my fight. He also has to be patient with me. I’m not able to just be in Manchester all year [Okolie lives in Dubai], so he has to deal with maybe working with other coaches and wanting to be there and making sure I lose weight but not necessarily being able to. Fortunately, I’m going to win in this one.”
Gallagher’s year-long fight has opened Okolie’s eyes to the temporary nature of life.
“I’ve never actually had to deal with grief in my life to date, there’s no one that I've known personally who’s passed ... and I’m 33 years old. I didn’t know my grandparents when they passed. And although, thank goodness, we didn’t lose Joe, the thought of it was like, ‘Oh wow, hold on, this is’ ... it makes you feel a certain type of way. And when you hear someone is Stage 3, Stage 4, even, and you feel that there's no coming back from it and he dies … It was a lot to process at the time, but I can’t imagine what it was like to process as the person going through it.”
Okolie starts on his journey to make his promise to Gallagher come true on Sunday. Ghana’s Tetteh, 23-3 (20 KOs), was crushed in a round by another Englishman, Frazer Clarke, earlier in the year, but Okolie admits it’s not his style to jump on an opponent to finish them early.
“I don’t want it to be a seven-round war like he had with Dillian Whyte,” Okolie said. “I think with Tetteh, you actually have to hit him clean to cause him to go. I think if you’re just half clubbing him, he’s not going to go because he’s a tough guy and he’s obviously got pride. And to be fair, he’s only coming from one hour away, where I’ve had to come from 20 hours of traveling. I have to be prepared for a fresh, hungry Tetteh trying to box in Africa. He’s home, right, as far as he’s concerned. So I am expecting to get my hands on him, but I just don’t want to rush it.”
Also on the bill is Tony Yoka, and if Okolie had his way, he would have been fighting the French heavyweight instead. That, however, is still a fight that interests the 2016 Olympian.
“That’s definitely a fight that we were trying to get actually behind the scenes beforehand,” Okolie said. “I think it’s still a fight that can happen. However, fortunately, I was mandated or ordered to box Moses Itauma for the WBC final eliminator. So I think that’s likely to be my next one, I'm hoping.”
Itauma will meet American Jermaine Franklin in January, and Okolie and Itauma are familiar with one another from past sparring sessions.
“In my heart of hearts, yes,” Okolie replied when asked whether he thought Itauma would fight him.
“Maybe it’s optimistic thinking or whatever else, but it’s kind of like, you know, I remember when I was younger and, you know, I got made – I was not as young as him – but I got made mandatory for the world title. I went for it and I managed to win. I got made mandatory for the British title before my time and I managed to win. I got made mandatory for the European title. So anytime I get ordered to fight someone, I’m going to fight them because, a lot of times, because of my awkward style or strength or power, certain people don’t volunteer to fight me. So I think this is one of those opportunities.
“I think Moses is someone who talks with a lot of confidence, I believe him and his team are confident. And I think when you, like, say for example, Moses gets mandated against someone else from a different country, it’s a bit easier to say, ‘No, no need for that one.’ I think when it's someone from the same country, people would obviously be backing him even. It's a bit harder to just say, ‘Oh, it was a bit of a tough fight, we'll leave it.’ I think it will end up happening, but I believe they have a different route. I don't know why I get that vibe. I just, I just get that vibe that maybe not Moses, but maybe like Queensberry or whatever else, I'm not really getting the energy that, ‘Hey, after this one, we're on it.’ I don't really get that vibe, but you never know. Maybe we'll see how he looks against Franklin, see how I look against Tetteh and then the judgment.”
Of course, it is Okolie’s sparring stories of Itauma that significantly added to the legend of Itauma’s rapid rise. The tales of Okolie, a world champion at the time, being handled by an Itauma who had changed out of his school clothes in the locker room beforehand are the stuff of British legend.
Itauma, as the WBA and WBO No. 1, also has other paths available to him.
“Yeah, agreed,” Okolie said with a smile when told his stories helped build Itauma’s profile.
“I’m so upset I didn’t sign him when I saw him at 15 or whatever. But, yeah, at the end of the day, it’s part of that. I always thought it was going to happen. Once I saw him – I think he beat Demsey McKean – that day, my perception of him changed. It was like, ‘Oh, by the time he gets up [in the rankings] and then they start talking about beating Mike Tyson’s record, I was like, ‘Hold on a second. I’m trying to be a world champion. He’s trying to be a world champion.’
“And when you win a world title, you have to defend against the guys who are around. So I was thinking, even if I beat [Joseph] Parker or whoever, I’m going to have to box whoever else is around. So I’ve always kind of seen it as a very likely fight. I just need to get through Sunday, and then we're going to start putting the pressure on and seeing what happens.”
It was during the Lerena fight when Okolie felt his arm “go” with the first meaningful left hook he threw.
Okolie had surgery, rehabbed and, now repaired, returns.
Another opponent often linked to Okolie is Richard Riakporhe, another cruiserweight who has moved up to the more lucrative heavyweight ranks.
Why is there frequent speculation about them both meeting?
“I think that because he’s big and black, and I’m big and black, it just makes it easy to kind of link everyone together,” Okolie said.
“Like, ‘Oh yeah, look, them two, they look kind of the same.’ And also, when you have a bit of a rivalry with someone, it is what it is. But I think the same way with Dillian Whyte, the same way with Richard, those fights are fights that happen if stuff isn’t moving [towards titles]. God willing, with the win here, I’m in a position now where I’m in the final eliminator for the world title. For me, I’m in a position now where it’s like I’m looking to win those fights and then see where the world takes me.”
And Okolie would like to revisit Nigeria to box Itauma there, too.
“I’m really hopeful and optimistic that it’s going to be Moses. I just think Moses has obviously grown into a great draw. I’ve got a lot of experience, and it’ll be interesting.
“I’m the sort of fighter that, if I’m fighting someone that’s also good, the fight becomes interesting. If I’m boxing just anyone, it’s not really that interesting. But if it’s me and Moses, that turns into like a massive fight, basically. I think Moses versus [Murat] Gassiev, as opposed to Moses versus me, I think mine and Moses is a much bigger fight. So I think that that helps fights happen. And I think that fight in Nigeria is going to generate a lot of interest and a lot of financial gain for both of us, I think.”
Asked how an ideal 2026 would look, Okolie goes on: “It would be two fights. It would be Moses and then [Oleksandr] Usyk would be my ideal 2026. It would be two great southpaws and it would give me two back-to-back camps in a similar style. So I’d have the same sparring partners in camp, the same nutritionists, the same S&C, and we’ll just bash out 2026 and call it ‘The Year of the Southpaw Slayer’ or whatever else.”
Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, a BWAA award winner, and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.
