Former world heavyweight title challenger and long-time contender Dillian Whyte turns 37 today, and the Londoner doesn’t figure to have too long to go until his walks away and retires from the sport. But one man who has never, shall we say, seen eye to eye with Whyte, Lawrence Okolie, has already taken the time to sarcastically wish Whyte both a happy birthday, and a “peaceful retirement.”
Taking to social media, Okolie, who is now as we know campaigning as a heavyweight, this after having won belts in the cruiserweight and bridgerweight divisions, really did get out his poison pen.
“Although we’ve had our differences in the past I’d like to wish Dillian Whyte a happy birthday and peaceful retirement,” Okolie began, seemingly respectfully enough. “He’s been a great ambassador for the sport and proves being juiced off your tits isn’t a recipe for success. It’s inspiring to see him leave the sport on a high after his recent PPV shows against Tetteh and Hammer. I truly believe those are the kind of shows that shaped the landscape for boxing into what it is today and encouraged powerhouses like Riyadh Season and TKO to enter boxing.”
Hmm. Some nasty stuff there from “The Sauce,” even if some of what he wrote does make one chuckle. Whyte as we know fought before a pretty sparse crowd when he boxed Christian Hammer and Ebenezer Tetteh, while Whyte looked pretty damn awful in the Tetteh fight. And, yes, Whyte did go through some troubles a while back when his drugs test came back hot, this in 2012, with Whyte later cleared to box again.
Okolie is perhaps setting down the groundwork for what he hopes will be a big-selling grudge-fight between himself and Whyte. Okolie, who was to have fought another grudge-match last Saturday, against Richard Riakporhe but pulled out of the fight, has no next bout officially set. Maybe Okolie and Whyte will indeed get it on some time this year?
For sure we would watch it, and it would be a shame if, after all their ongoing beef – and Whyte is sure to get angry over Okolie’s birthday message, should he read it – these two didn’t slug out their differences in the ring.
Okolie really does stick it to Whyte with his sarcastic, yet sometimes funny “inspirational” message!