Lawrence Okolie’s Heavyweight Path Takes a Soft Turn Against Ebenezer Tetteh

I’ll be honest. This one makes me a bit uneasy, and not in the “anything can happen in boxing” way people like to pretend is depth.

The lazy assumption is that this is about Okolie building confidence at heavyweight. I don’t buy that. Confidence isn’t the issue. Control is. And you don’t learn control against a man who’s already been stopped twice in a row and knows exactly how this night is supposed to end.

Why heavyweights behave differently when they smell safety

Real heavyweights don’t need much encouragement. Give them a hint of vulnerability and they lean on it. Literally. They crowd you, sap your legs, make you carry weight, and force ugly exchanges. That’s where habits show up.

Okolie’s habits are well known. When rhythm goes, he grabs. When distance collapses, things get messy. He throws in bursts, not flow. Against limited opponents, it looks functional. Against anyone who refuses to back up, it turns into clinch-and-reset boxing that fools judges more than it fools other heavyweights.

Tetteh isn’t the danger people pretend he is. He’s faded, been around, and he knows how these nights work. If he pushes early, it won’t be to win. It’ll be to survive and make it awkward. And awkward is where Okolie’s issues live.

This fight won’t answer the questions people avoid asking

I don’t know if Okolie can fix those habits at this stage. Maybe he can. Maybe heavyweight time suits him better than cruiser ever did. I’ve been wrong before, plenty of times, usually after a long night and one drink too many.

What I do know is this fight won’t tell us anything new. You don’t learn how a heavyweight handles pressure by removing it. You don’t find out if a man can control range without holding by putting him in with someone who’s already accepted the role.

Tony Yoka on the undercard makes this even stranger. Another heavyweight trying to reboot, another careful opponent. It feels like a night designed to pass without friction.

The scenario I see is simple. Okolie wins, probably inside the distance, looks fine on paper, and everyone pretends progress was made. The real test still waits. And when it shows up, all these carried rounds won’t count for much.

Event details
Venue: Onikan Stadium, Victoria Island, Lagos
Date: Sunday, December 21
Start time: 3:00 pm ET, 8:00 pm UK
Streaming: DAZN