BANGKOK, Thailand – There are several reasons why Joe Gallagher is this week attending the WBC Annual Convention in Bangkok, Thailand. Firstly, there was the not-so-small matter of claiming the WBC Champion of Life Award for winning his gruelling battle with stage-four cancer.
More importantly for Gallagher, however, is the progression of his fighters. The biggest of those he trains, in terms of sheer size, is heavyweight contender Lawrence Okolie, 22-1 (16 KOs). The former WBO cruiserweight beltholder occupies the number-one spot in the same WBC heavyweight rankings where Oleksandr Usyk is champion.
On Monday, following speculation about the Ukrainian’s future after relinquishing the WBO title, Usyk all but confirmed plans to fight again when he announced that no longer being undisputed champion was “temporary”. Gallagher is now looking forward to finding out the status of the WBC belt.
“Lawrence is fighting out in Nigeria at the end of the year, he’s WBC number one and we’ll find out this week what Usyk’s intentions are,” Gallagher told BoxingScene. “As you heard on the stage, giving that [WBO] belt up to allow [Fabio] Wardley to become champion is a temporary thing. You can tell the drive is still there and he still wants that undisputed title. So I don’t think he’ll be giving up any WBC belt this week.”
Which means that Okolie, should he win, is likely to face Agit Kabayel – who faces the lightly-regarded Damian Knyba on January 10 – for the right to challenge Usyk. But what has frustrated Gallagher the most is how difficult it’s been to get the industry to recognize Okolie as a key player at heavyweight.
“We’ve got to go to Germany in January, watch Kabayel, and we’ll try and get that fight,” Gallagher explained. “We want Lawrence to be out and be spoken about. I joked when I saw [TalkSport’s] Gareth A. Davies and Spencer Oliver the other week – I said, ‘Could you just say something to me? Could you say Lawrence Okolie?’ They all said it then I said, ‘Great. So you can say his name. You’re quick to reel everyone else’s name off but you never say him. I just thought you all had problems pronouncing it’.
“We want Larence Okolie on everyone’s tongue next year.”
Ironically, the 32-year-old Okolie has recently made more headlines for his work as a sparring partner for Jake Paul than his progress in the banner division. Paul has also employed other contenders Frank Sanchez and Jared Anderson to assist with the monstrous task of upsetting Anthony Joshua on December 19.
“I messaged Lawrence and he was quite glowing about Jake Paul, to be honest, on how well he was doing with Frank Sanchez and Jared Anderson,” the trainer reported.
So, is Okolie picking Paul to actually beat Joshua?
“I don’t think he’s gone as far as that!”
