London’s Lawrence Okolie scored the kind of quick and devastating KO that gets fans interested and excited last night in crushing Lukasz Rozanski to rip the WBC bridgerweight title. Now, “The Sauce” is looking at staying at bridgerweight for the time being, with the ultimate goal being that of moving up to heavyweight to become a three-weight world champ (Okolie as we know ruled as WBO cruiserweight champ before being upset by Chris Billam-Smith last year).
But who could Okolie fight at bridgerweight, the weight class still not blessed with too many big names? George Groves, who worked the fight in the Sky Sports studio last night, suggested Deontay Wilder as a possible, shall we say, wildcard opponent for Okolie. Wilder as we know faces Zhilei Zhang in June, and there is talk he may then fight Jared Anderson after that, this on the next big Saudi card (but held in Los Angeles).
But Groves thinks there is a chance Wilder, if he comes through against Zhang and then perhaps Anderson, might look around and see that with no immediate title chance at heavyweight available to him, will perhaps think to himself, why not go and try to become a two-weight world champion? Stranger things have happened, and for sure it would add a heck of a lot to the fledgling weight division if Wilder did fight at bridgerweight.
“I think, maybe, Wilder’s the sort of character, who goes, ‘I’m such a big name, I’m a former heavyweight world champion, I can’t see me getting a shot at a heavyweight title any time soon; but why not become a two-weight world champion, and fight at bridgerweight?’” Groves said.
Again, it’s an interesting notion. In the past, Wilder said a firm, thanks but no thanks when asked if he would consider fighting at bridgerweight. But that was some time ago, and Wilder has been through a lot since then. Wilder’s goal is to fight Tyson Fury a fourth time, and Wilder really does believe he can become a heavyweight champion again. But as Groves pointed out, Wilder may not get a shot at a major heavyweight title any time soon, what with Fury and Oleksandr Usyk set for their rematch (Bob Arum says in November or December, not as soon as October), and with Anthony Joshua possibly in line to fight the Filip Hrgovic-Daniel Dubois winner for the vacant IBF belt in late summer.
As he waits around for a shot at becoming a two-time heavyweight champ, why not a Wilder fight at bridgerweight? Wilder might just like the idea of becoming a two-weight world champion. Maybe.