Lawrence Okolie-Kevin Lerena: One Week Extension Granted For Ordered WBC Bridgerweight Title Fight
Lawrence Okolie and Kevin Lerena were granted yet another final last chance.
The Ring has confirmed that a one-week extension was granted for the beleaguered WBC bridgerweight title fight. An Oct. 1 date was originally set aside for the session but is now pushed back to Oct. 8 should a deal still not be reached.
“The WBC has given all considerations to both sides to try to reach an amicable agreement to stage the mandatory fight,” WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman stated. “Having communicated this past weekend with both sides the WBC will extend the negotiation period for the last time.
Okolie is due to make the first defense of his WBC bridgerweight title. Lerena is the mandatory challenger in waiting. The two previously told the WBC that a deal was reached but the matter was considered in default when neither a date nor location was properly secured.
Sulaiman originally called for a Sept. 20 deadline and hearing.
“The mandatory title fight must go back to a purse bid,” Sulaiman previously confirmed. “The agreement originally made has fallen through.”
Two more extensions were since granted, despite previous claims that both were at last chance corral.
Per WBC rules, ten-percent of the highest accepted bid will be placed in escrow as a win bonus. Okolie (20-1, 15 knockouts) will receive the favorable end of a 70-30 split from the remaining balance.
Okolie knocked out Poland’s Lukasz Rozanski in the first round to win the title on May 26 in Rzeszow. “The Big Sauce” floored Rozanski (15-1, 14 KOs) three times to snatch the WBC bridgerweight title.
With the win, Okolie became a two-division titlist—for those who recognize the WBC-created weight class. The 2016 Great Britain Olympian previously held the WBO cruiserweight title. That reign ended in his first career defeat when he dropped a decision to Chris Billam-Smith last May in Bournemouth, England.
South Africa’s Lerena (30-3, 14 KOs) enters the title fight on the heels of a loss. It came at heavyweight, albeit in a credible showing. The 32-year-old southpaw was outpointed by unbeaten heavyweight Justis Huni on the March 8 Anthony Joshua-Francis Ngannou card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
It snapped a two-fight win streak after a third-round knockout loss to Daniel Dubois. Lerena nearly won the secondary WBA heavyweight title after he dropped Dubois (21-2, 20 KOs) three times in the opening round of their Dec. 2022 battle. Dubois rallied to drop him twice en route to the stoppage win and has since won the IBF belt. He defends versus Joshua (28-3, 25 KOs) this weekend in London.
Lerena previously held the IBO cruiserweight title. The belt is a big deal in South Africa but largely WGAF to the rest of the world. The creation of the bridgerweight division was a perfect fit for Lerena and others like him who are too small for heavyweight. He outpointed Ryad Merhy in their WBC title eliminator last May 13 in Kempton Park, South Africa.
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