Lawrence Okolie is in negotiations with two-time world heavyweight title challenger Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz. The former WBO cruiserweight champion (21-1, 16 KOs) is taking a slow approach to acclimating to the heavyweight division.
Cuban Ortiz (34-3, 29 KOs) turns 46 on March 29, but is still dangerous because of his power, size and technical skills. His ring IQ and athletic ability are above the 6’5″ Okolie’s. If Ortiz lands on the uncoordinated “Sauce” Okolie, it could knock him out and ruin his heavyweight ambitions.
Okolie vs. Ortiz In The Works
Okolie’s two heavyweight fights were against Hussein Muhamed and Lukasz Rozanski. Both men were terrible and completely useless in developing Okolie in any real sense to ramp him up for a world title shot. However, if the idea is to feed Okolie tomato milk to make it look invincible, the association against these types of fighters is the way to go.
In Lawrence’s last fight at cruiserweight, he was knocked out by Chris Billiam-Smith, losing a 12-round majority decision on May 27, 2023. This fight was the writing on the wall for Okolie that his time was like “champion” at Cruiserweight. Okolie would not do well with the talented new crop of fighters, Jai Opetaia and David Nyika. So, he moved to heavyweight to reinvent himself.
Ortiz is coming off a first round knockout win over Francisco Cordero last year on January 13th in Colombia. “King Kong’ Ortiz had been inactive for two years prior to that after losing a 12-time unanimous decision to the former world champion. Andy Ruiz on September 14, 2022.
Ortiz gave Ruiz pure hell in that fight, often landing on the big 268-pounder. If Ruiz had not left Luiz in the two and seven rounds, the Cuban would have won. In Ortiz’s previous fight on January 1, 2022, he knocked out former heavyweight champion Charles Martin in the sixth round.
Former cruiserweight champion Lawrence Okolie, now campaigning for heavyweight, is in talks to fight Luis Ortiz in the UK, a source told ESPN. Ortiz, 45, returned last January in a shake-off-the-rust fight. It was his first fight since a competitive loss to Andy Ruiz in 2022.
– Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) January 20, 2025
