WBO Cruiserweight World Champion, Lawrence Okolie, has revealed that this year has made him lose love for the sport of boxing.
Many fans believe that Okolie’s career is currently in limbo. He was keen to unify the belts at cruiserweight against Mairis Breidis, but the Latvian was too busy calling out Jake Paul. When he was ready to fight, he lost his IBF and The Ring belts to Jai Opetaia.
A fight with the WBC champion, Junior Makabu, doesn’t seem forthcoming and the British fighter wants to move up to heavyweight to get his campaign up there underway soon.
Despite all of the above, he fought twice in 2021 and just once in 2022 (February.) This year in particular has taken its toll, with the undefeated cruiser taking to Twitter to air out some grievances with certain unnamed people in the sport.
“Can’t lie this year was turning me [off] boxing. Dirty, lying, narcissistic individuals who ‘run’ the sport. How I feel right now… reminds me that that’s a selfish outlook, our fights mean so much more to so many more people than ourselves.”
Can't lie this year was turning me of boxing. Dirty, lying, narcissistic individuals who 'run' the sport. How I feel right now… reminds me that that's a selfish outlook, our fights mean so much more to so many more people than ourselves.
— Lawrence Okolie (@Lawrence_tko) November 13, 2022
A boxing fan responded to Okolie’s tweet telling him that Matchroom – who the user assumed the fighter was talking about despite them not being mentioned – had stuck by him. The champion then responded:
“I’ve seen 100s of fighters come and go, lose and pushed to the back or out. When it’s time for me to speak I will and I’m sure you’ll have a very different outlook.”]
I've seen 100s of fighters come and go, lose and pushed to the back or out. When it's time for me to speak I will and I'm sure you'll have a very different outlook 🤞🏿
— Lawrence Okolie (@Lawrence_tko) November 13, 2022
It’s known that Okolie has one fight left in his promotional contract with Matchroom, who have guided his professional career since his debut in 2017.
There has been hints – including the above tweets – that the relationship has turned sour, and he’s expected to entertain offers and ultimately go elsewhere once that fight has been fulfilled.
When it will be, who it will be against, and how east it will be to organise remains to be seen.