Okolie follows in footsteps of giants with weight switch

Lawrence Okolie is a big lad, and he has always been a big lad.

- STEVE BUNCE

Last Saturday, at Wembley Arena, he made his heavyweight debut in a boxing ring and knocked out Germany's Hussein Muhamed in just 134 seconds of the first round. Okolie weighed in at a career-high, an astounding 18st 8lb (260lb).

Okolie is the latest former world cruiserweight champion to move up in weight, forget the diet, neglect the lock on the fridge and fight at a comfortable heaviness. He joins an elite gang, by the way. “I was never happy at cruiserweight,” Okolie said. “I was always making weight and that meant I was worried about my legs in a long, hard fight.”

On Saturday, Okolie was a full 60lb above the cruiserweight limit, and he looked great. It is a severe weight gain, and it might take on a new meaning in the boxing business: “He’s done an Okolie,” has just entered the boxing lexicon.

The weight gain between fights was not so severe; earlier this year, Okolie passed the 14st 4lbs (200lb) limit of the cruiserweights to win the new bridgerweight title where the limit is 16st (224lb). In May, Okolie travelled to Poland, weighed 15st 13lbs (223lb) and won the WBC title in the first round.