Lawrence Okolie is the WBC Number 1 contender. That is a factual sentence. The basis for this status is harder to establish. As a former Cruiserweight champion he has credence, as a heavyweight, he has proven little. He also appears to enjoy not making the Cruiserweight limit a little too much.
As veteran slugger Ebenezer Tetteh decided he'd done enough to earn his purse and opted out of taking any more punishment from Brit Lawrence Okolie last weekend, it served only to add confusion to an already unsatisfactory outing for the victor from London. Okolie won in two rounds and landed a couple of eye catching blows to discourage the Ghanaian.
Boxing parlance insists, 'you can only beat what is in front of you'.
However, Tetteh is 37-years-old. Which is not the venerable age it used to be but is, nevertheless, old. In truth, Tetteh has never been anything other than a frisky trial horse for novice up and comers blessed with a sprinkling of expectation. He has won only a solitary fight outside Accra, the place of his birth, and that was against a novice he'd previously beaten two fights prior. Six years ago he lost in two minutes to Daniel Dubois, while Dillian Whyte needed 7 rounds to beat him a year ago before Frazer Clarke defeated him in the first round in Tetteh's last fight in May. The latter of which one could've reasonably assumed would preclude him from opportunities to box ranked contenders. Clarke was just 8-1-1 himself at the time of their fight and coming of a demolition at the hands of up and coming Fabio Wardley. But this is boxing, a place logic abandoned decades ago.
In short, Tetteh, isn't the calibre of opponent an established, experienced WBC Number 1 contender should be fighting, particularly one without a win that justifies that lofty perch. Okolie is overdue a test in the division. Perhaps there was opportunism in the matchmaking, the need to get Okolie an outing the overriding imperative - the division is locking in around Joshua v Fury and Usyk v Wilder after all. These agreed sequences can encourage other contenders toward inertia as they wait to see how the division shakes out in the aftermath. What is clear, is there is a distinct lack of jeopardy or urgency at work in 33-year-old Okolie's matchmaking since he entered the heavyweight division in October last year. Perhaps, better a fight than no fight at all but there are more credible contemporaries available that would test Okolie and develop his credentials in the process.
Regardless of the reasoning or the economics at work, 2026 needs to herald a step up in opposition because if further fighters of the modesty of Tetteh are selected, it will be a sure sign of a contender merely sitting on their false ranking while the attractions in the division duke it out. As well as being WBC Number 1, Okolie is also Number 4 in the WBO rankings beneath Fabio Wardley their newly appointed champion. From a competitive stand point, it usually proves a flawed strategy to box uncompetitive opponents in preparation for the opportunity they're waiting on. Safer though it may be.
Another narrative that swirls and perhaps encouraged this encounter with Tetteh, is Okolie's burgeoning weight. Having struggled to draw himself down to the 200lb limit in which he was a world title holder, he has certainly enjoyed a fuller buffet plate since that restriction was lifted. In May 2024 Okolie boxed at 223.5 pounds, by the December - a year ago - he was 260.75, steadied to 262 back in July and tipped in at a rotund 271 for this Tetteh fight.
Promoter Frank Warren said when Okolie signed to Queesberry in October 2024, "Lawrence possesses all the attributes to make a big impact at heavyweight and he will relish being released of the burden of weight cutting."
Okolie is broad shouldered and stands 6-5, 200lbs may have been a false weight achieved only momentarily for those old Cruiserweight weigh ins, but his current upward trajectory needs to be arrested. At an imprecise point beyond 240-250 pounds, Okolie will surely sacrifice attributes of greater value than the power he assumes to gain.
Once Joshua, Fury and Usyk depart, the heavyweight division will need a Sherman tank or two, not a Sherman Clump.