Latest news with #LawrenceOkolie
The Sun
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Sun
Fabio Wardley vs Justis Huni LIVE RESULTS: Main event ON NOW with Wardley LABOURING in massive Portman Road test
No Whyte Dillian Whyte was meant to be on this card but pulled out of his bout without ever having an opponent. His last fight in England was in November 2022 and the Body Snatcher, aged 37, is fast running out of time for another tilt at the world title. Whyte could now face Lawrence Okolie in August. Promoter Frank Warren said earlier this week: "He's not going to be on the card now. "He's had an opportunity for a big big fight in August and we're looking to get that over the line. "That's going to take priority."
The Sun
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Sun
Fabio Wardley reveals the fight he would never agree to and claims he would even ‘take a knee in the first round'
FABIO WARDLEY has floored the baffling suggestion that he could fight his mentor and pal Dillian Whyte. After following all of Wardley's career, we were stunned to hear the idea even mooted from some clumsy pundits. 5 But Wardley told SunSport with a laugh: 'From the second it would be announced, everybody who knows the sport and who knows us, would know it would be fake and not something I would ever do, because of the amount of love, respect and admiration I have for Dills. 'People go on about my story, white-collar, coming from nowhere, sparring Usyk. "But none of that is possible without Dillian at the beginning, giving me all of these opportunities. 'So I would never spit in his face and fight him. 'Even if all the sanctioning bodies called for the fight and somebody was silly enough to put all the money up, I would take a knee in the first round and give him the win.' Ipswich's 30-year-old former recruitment worker and white-collar boxer headlines Portman Road on Saturday night against tough Australian Justis Huni. out to secure a summer showdown with Lawrence Okolie. He has not boxed in England since November 2022 and was supposed to have a rematch with Anthony Joshua in August 2023. 5 FABIO WARDLEY VS JUSTIS HUNI: ALL THE DETAILS YOU NEED AHEAD OF HUGE BOUT But that O2 sell-out was scrapped when Whyte failed a doping test. Whyte has boxed in Gibraltar and Ireland since that big-money clash was binned, landing underwhelming wins. For Wardley, on June 16 his partner is scheduled to give birth to his first child, a bouncing baby girl. For anyone else, the nail-biting fortnight would be a crippling rollercoaster of emotions impossible to combine. But the Suffolk Puncher - who went on an Oleksandr Usyk sparring trip to Ukraine in 2018 when he barely knew how to throw a jab - is loving the chaos. The class act told SunSport: 'June 2025 is going to be a wild month I talk a lot about, for the rest of my life. 'I will be an old man in a rocking chair, telling people about it and wondering how we pulled it off. 'Everything has come together at the same time, it might seem a bit hectic but I wouldn't have it any other way. I thrive on it, I love the chaos.' Nine months ago, the 18-0-1 ace got the wonderful news he would be a dad for the first time. 5 And a few weeks later he got the offer of a lifetime, to headline at his boyhood football club, a chance that some Olympic and world champions never get. It seems like a psychological and logistical nightmare that would be destined for the divorce courts but Team Wardley is way too tight. 'If my little girl is anything like me, then she'll be chilled out and late, which will give me a little bit more time to decompress from the fight,' he grinned. 'The flight date has been moved around a few times but my missus has been unbelievable. 'I have just promised to her that, as soon as Saturday night is over, I am all theirs. 'This week, though, is just my week. I need to be totally focused on me and then it's all on them.' Wardley - who cracked 2020 Olympic bronze winner Frazer Clarke's skull in their one-round rematch in October - somehow combines being a brutal boxer with being a lovely bloke and he insists that won't change with another win or a baby. 'I don't know how parenthood will affect me,' he said. 'I do plan to be the fun-dad though. 'I want mum to do the telling off. I think I will always be driven to push myself in everything, though. 'That's something just innate in me. And I am sure I will need to feed and stoke that fire regularly.' 5 5
The Independent
27-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Richard Riakporhe labels Lawrence Okolie ‘a phony' after cancelled bout, talks on landscape of heavyweight division
Richard Riakporhe, 18-1 (14), has called out London rival Lawrence Okolie, 21-1 (16), once again, labelling the former cruiserweight and bridgerweight world champion 'a phony'. Despite never crossing paths as cruiserweights, Riakporhe was set to make his debut at heavyweight against Okolie in April, only for the latter to pull out due to injury. Catch all the latest boxing action on DAZN Riakporhe went onto make his debut at heavyweight in May, comfortably dispatching Kevin Espindola, 9-10 (4), with a fourth-round stoppage on the undercard of Canelo-Scull out in Riyadh. But although the pair have exchanged verbal digs since 2023, with Okolie poking fun at Riakporhe's friendship with popstar Madonna, the 35-year-old is not interested in reigniting the cancelled bout. Asked by Sky Sports about Okolie, Riakporhe responded: 'Don't even mention that guy's name. That guy is supposed to be a two-time world champion, and he doesn't have the cajones to jump in the ring and get this fight done. He made up this story about an injury. To this day we haven't had (any) evidence of what happened. The guy is a phony. So now we're moving on, and focusing on bigger and better things.' Riakporhe certainly believes that those things are just around the corner, sharing how he feels that the heavyweight division will soon be shaken up by retirements. Asked if he felt that he was world-title calibre, Riakporhe replied: 'I think it all depends on what you see in the ring. The fans will be able to make their predictions and give their honest opinions. But me personally, in my mind? 100%, I want a world title at heavyweight. Right now, it's very interesting times. Everything is pretty much tied up with Usyk, but they're on the way out, let's be frank. Joshua, Tyson Fury, they're going to have a few more fights and pack it in.' Riakporhe believes that his move from cruiserweight to boxing's biggest division has come at the right time. He continued: 'Everything is going to be up for grabs, and I've come at the perfect time. I think everything happens for a reason, and I will benefit largely from this move.' After sharing his belief that the old guard of the heavyweight division would soon retire, Riakporhe was asked about the fresher faces in the weight class. Moses Itauma, 11-0 (9), who is in action this weekend on the Taylor-Essuman undercard, has earned many admirers who believe that he has the potential to dominate at heavyweight. 'Moses is young, he's coming up, he's doing really well at the moment, he's like a brother to me,' Riakporhe restarted. 'But I feel like all of us are going to be in them ranks, top five across the board. Anyone who is young, hungry, has got power, got some amazing genetics - which I thank my parents for - we're going to have some amazing fights." Watch the very best boxing with a DAZN subscription DAZN is the home of combat sports, broadcasting over 185 fights a year from the world's best promoters, including Matchroom, Queensberry, Golden Boy, Misfits, PFL, BKFC, GLORY and more. An Annual Saver subscription is a one-off cost of £119.99 / $224.99 (for 12 months access), that's just 64p / $1.21 per fight. There is also a Monthly Flex Pass option (cancel any time) at £24.99 / $29.99 per month. A subscription includes weekly magazine shows, comprehensive fight library, exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes documentaries, and podcasts and vodcasts.
