Lawrence Okolie in negotiations with Luis Ortiz for a heavyweight bout

Lawrence Okolie is negotiating with Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz, the two-time world heavyweight challenger. The former WBO Cruiserweight Champion (21-1, 16 KOs) is taking a slow approach to acclimating himself to the heavyweight division.

Cuban Ortiz (34-3, 29 KOs) turns 46 on March 29, but remains dangerous with his power, size and technical skills. His IQ and athletic ability are above the 6’5″ Okolie. If Ortiz lands 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 have been against Hussein Muhamed and Lukasz Rozanski. Both were terrible and completely useless at developing Okolie in any real sense to build him up for a world title shot. However, if the idea is to feed Okolie tomato cans to make him seem invincible, matching him with these types of fighters is the way to go.

In Lawrence’s last fight at cruiserweight, he was hammered 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 had finished as “champion” in Cruiserweight. Okolie would not fare well with the talented new group 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 Jan. 13 in Colombia. “King Kong’ Ortiz had been inactive for two years before that after losing a 12-round unanimous decision to the former world champion. Andy Ruiz on September 14, 2022.

Ortiz gave Ruiz pure hell in that fight, frequently landing the 268-pounder. If not for Ruiz dropping Luiz in the second and seventh rounds, the Cuban would have won. In Ortiz’s previous fight on January 1, 2022, he defeated former heavyweight champion Charles Martin in the sixth round.

Former cruiserweight champion Lawrence Okolie, now campaigning at heavyweight, is in talks to fight Luis Ortiz in the UK, a source told ESPN. Ortiz, 45, made his comeback last January in a fast-paced fight. It was his first fight since a competitive loss to Andy Ruiz in 2022.

— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) January 20, 2025