Boxing_News__November_24_2017

NEWS
Highlighting the best
of the week’s stories
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NO EXCUSES
Speaking to
John Dennen,
Lawrence
Okolie
describes his
confrontation
with Isaac
Chamberlain
and its
consequences
AWRENCE
OKOLIE is a big
L
cruiserweight, a
GB Olympian and
a hard puncher. It’s
counter-intuitive to
think once he was
the victim of bullying. For Anti-Bullying
Week last week he has been visiting his
local school. “I was bullied in primary and
early secondary school so it’s a subject
that’s close to me. I come in and speak
to some of the kids in assembly, show
that you can be bullied, you can be body
conscious and you can change your life,
become an Olympian, box on Sky, do
whatever you want to do in life,” he said.
It’s been an eventful week in other
ways. He had his next fight confirmed
for December 13 at York Hall and
expects to take on London rival Isaac
Chamberlain in February next year.
After the two confronted each other
on the sidelines of a show last Friday,
Okolie phoned promoter Eddie Hearn to
insist on the fight
happening as soon as
possible.
“He likes to play
this underdog,
‘nothing’s been given
to me,’” Lawrence
told Boxing News. But
he points out, “It’s
me taking the step
up in the sense that
I’m boxing someone
that’s ranked above
me, who has been
pro for three years, so has developed
a lot more experience in that time as a
professional. He’s done 10 rounds.
I haven’t gone past six. He’s been in the
trenches. He’s gone six hard rounds
with Russell Henshaw, four hard rounds
with Martin Grainger. He’s gone 10 hard
rounds with Wadi Camacho. He’s gone
six rounds with Ossie Jervier. So in a
sense he’s the favourite.”
Their recent confrontation was the
final straw. Okolie said, “Chamberlain
and I have seen each other on multiple
occasions. Face to face, man to man, he
doesn’t want to say a word to me ever.
When he’s with his people, I’m with my
people, he doesn’t want to talk. This time
I was at York Hall to support my friend.
I was there with my brother, we were
walking through when Chamerlain and
his friends suddenly confronted us, all
with their cameras out, you know, talking
about ridiculous stuff, nothing to do with
fighting. So I pressed the issue, do you
want to fight?”
‘IF CHAMBERLAIN
SAYS HE’S INJURED
AND CAN’T FIGHT
IN FEBRUARY,
I’M TELLING YOU
THE INJURY IS
NOT REAL’
“I said talk’s cheap, let’s get cracking in
December,” he continued. “Some people
are about talking, other people are about
action.”
Lawrence maintains if the two don’t
box on February 3 2018, it will be down
to Chamberlain. “Unfortunately they
overpushed it with the taunting and the
talking, I made the relevant calls and
stressed that the fight needs to happen
soon. It takes away the whole ‘letting it
build’,” Okolie said. “If the fight doesn’t
happen in Feburary it’s because they
bottled it, in the sense that they want to
fight me but they don’t think it’s worth
the risk. It’s bluffing in the sense that
they didn’t want the fight right now. If
the fight doesn’t happen in February, it’s
purely because of an injury, and if he says
he’s injured I’m telling you it’s not real,
or because they priced themselves out
of the fight. That’s the bottom line and it
sickens that this stuff is even possible in
boxing.”
“I don’t think Chamberlain’s afraid to
fight me. I think he
wants it to be lifechanging
money,”
he mused. “We’ll see
anyway.
“I’m not in this
game to mess about
for three years
talking rubbish with
someone, trying to
build up a big fight.
If I’m as good as I
believe I’m going to
be, then my big fight
isn’t Chamberlain, it’s European, World
title, unification that I’m going to build
towards.”
There is personal animosity between
them. “They’re saying they want to fight
but, I don’t want to get into the ins
and outs of money, but Chamberlain is
extremely jealous of me,” Lawrence said.
“He’s jealous and he thinks that he’s been
hard done by, despite the fact that he’s
got TV, Sky, Facebook Live, coverage from
Matchroom, when people in his own
gym have done more as an amateur and
are doing more as a professional and
haven’t got the same platform. So I don’t
think that’s fair.”
Okolie reasoned there is no point
waiting. He wants to avoid the curse
of letting a fight ‘marinade’. “I’m not in
boxing to do talking for months or years.
He says he wants to fight, he says he
wants to box for the Commonwealth
title, for the English, whatever. So that
being said, the Commonwealth title is
held up because Luke Watkins has a
mandatory against Mike Stafford and also
the English title is the same, [Arfan Iqbal]
and Simon Vallily are scheduled to fight.
So that means that the Commonwealth
title is held up, the English title held up,
Southern Area, he already beat Wadi
Camacho [for it], I’m ranked above Wadi
Camacho. The natural progression is
10 l BOXING NEWS l NOVEMBER 23, 2017 www.boxingnewsonline.net