British-Nigerian fighter, Lawrence Okolie, who recently announced a move up in weights, has disclosed linking up with a new trainer that nobody would have predicted, reports boxing-social.com.
Okolie has been out of the ring since last year when he lost his WBO cruiserweight world title and was put on the canvas several times against Chris Billam-Smith at the Vitality Stadium in Bournemouth.
He first lifted the title when beating Nikodem Jezewski in 2020 and won by second-round technical knockout after knocking the Polish fighter down three times.
He first took up the sport rather late as a means to lose weight and had a limited amateur career though did represent Team GB at the Rio Olympics in 2016, having first been inspired by Anthony Joshua at the 2012 Games in London just four years earlier.
He has now announced that he is moving up to Bridgerweight to take on Lukasz Rozanski for the WBC world title and will do so out in Poland on May 24.
The man in Okolie’s corner for that contest has been announced as former Trainer of the Year, Joe Gallagher, who has worked with the likes of Callum and Liam Smith, Natasha Jonas and Anthony Crolla and guided fighters to several world titles before now.
In a post on Instagram, Okolie revealed the move and seems to suggest it’s one he hopes will see him get back to his powerful best.
