It’s fair to say that, upon picking through the bones of this Saturday’s Usyk-Dubois SAZN PPV undercard, there isn’t too much there.
The main event is of course more than capable of pulling in the fans and the interest levels all on its lonesome, and this has of course been the case (around 90,000 fans expected to pile into Wembley Stadium, so much global TV coverage, etc, etc) – but some fans have grumbled a little about the sparse undercard.
In terms of which fight is the pick of the supporting bouts, the heavyweight co-feature between Lawrence Okolie, 21-1(16) and Kevin Lerena, 31-3(15) could easily be looked at as the most interesting. Okolie, AKA “The Sauce,” will be having his second fight as a heavyweight, while Lerena has also boxed at bridgerweight and at heavyweight. Lerena of South Africa showed how dangerous he can be in his 2022 fight with Dubois, with him scoring three knockdowns in the opening round yet somehow failing to get the win.
Could ‘The Sauce’ Seal a First-Round Knockout?
But Okolie – who really and truly is a mountain of a man now that he is fighting at heavyweight, and the Lord alone knows how he ever made the 200 pound cruiserweight limit – says he will not be satisfied with anything but a “vicious” knockout win on Saturday. Speaking with Queensbury Promotions, London’s Okolie says he will come out of the blocks fast.
“I know what our game-plan is, our game-plan is, from the first-round, to go in and get him,” Okolie said. “My last two fights have gone one round, so I’m gonna go out and try and get it done in one round. If it doesn’t happen in the first round, I’ll try and get it done in the second round….and on and on in every round until I get the job done. I will get the job done, and I’ll get it done by knockout. I’ve beaten world champions before, I’ve beaten unbeaten fighters before, so…..I need to win the way I wanna win and have been training to win which is viciously.”
Will Lerena Stormback and Spoil Okolie’s Statement?
Okolie hasn’t seen much action yet as a heavyweight as we know, but he has shown real power over the course of the mere minutes he has fought at heavyweight. Another quick KO win cannot be ruled out here, but Lerena, a southpaw, can bang himself, and who knows, we could see a short and sweet slugfest here, a fight in which both men get hurt. This fight does have that look of a potentially exciting one, for however long it lasts. Okolie is looking to make a big statement, this as the whole world looks on.
Lerena is looking to turn over the local man.