Lawrence Okolie is remaining active since signing with Ben Shalom’s Boxxer. The WBO cruiserweight world champion heads to Bournemouth in less than three weeks time to face local man Chris Billam-Smith.
However, it is another all British matchup that has caught British boxing fan’s imagination. Richard Riakporhe and Okolie clashed at the Creed 3 Premier two months ago. The video went viral of the pair losing their cool, luckily Spencer Fearon was on hand to disperse the rivaling cruiserweights.
Both were in attendance in Birmingham on Saturday night to soak in Joshua Buatsi Vs Pawel Stepien, but no scuffles occurred this time around.
“I didn’t feel anything, I am not boxing him.” Okolie said when quizzed on his opinion of Riakporhe. “He is just somebody that wants a fight. Chris Billam-Smith is someone who asked for the fight, we made it happen, so until me and him are opponents he is just another potential opponent.”
On May 27 Okolie (19-0, 14 KOs) the champion, will go to Billam-Smith’s hometown to defend his WBO title. Obviously his main focus, ahead of jumping into the lion's den.
“I don’t have any feelings about it.” Okolie said. “It’s pretty standard, I’ve done it 19 times [before]. The home crowd only makes a difference when the big moments happen in the fight. When someone gets hurt the crowd cheers them on. I’m very composed under fire, I don’t really get myself in certain situations and positions [in the ring]. We have been working hard in this camp, straight after a previous camp.”
Billam-Smith has spent a career with Okolie’s former trainer Shane McGuigan. The two fighters know each other well.
“I think this fight will come down to a lot of different situations.” Okolie continued “I kind of know what tactics they are going to employ if I was them. But I don’t really focus on it [too much] because I change every fight and every time I spar, I learn something new. I used to watch his fights from an entertainment standpoint because he was my stablemate. But watching him as an opponent, it’s interesting to see how he has progressed over the last 6 months. But when I look at him, there is no version of me that would lose to Chris, even in my last fight. I don’t expect anything to be different in 3 weeks.”
The fact Okolie was trained by McGuigan and is fighting away from home, posing the fear that the champion could be making life too difficult for himself.
“I think it is actually more of an advantage for me.” Okolie continued. “I’m actually going to be a lot more relaxed in this fight than most fights because I know Chris. If I do what I need to do, I know what is going to happen on the day. He’ll be motivated, he is not the type of person who will bottle it. He is going to be locked in. My confidence doesn’t come from Chris being lesser than me, it comes from knowing what I can do. I’m strong, I’m athletic, I punch well at the right times, I smother well. I’ll be in control of everything that goes on.
“I don’t overthink boxing. I’m not one of these guys who think they are not good enough, I am good enough to beat all these guys. I’m not bothered at all by going away, we are both going to forget there in a crowd when we are in the ring.”
