Just days after he was, quite shockingly, elevated to the number one spot in the new WBC heavyweight rankings, Lawrence Okolie has been hit by a training injury that will reportedly force “The Sauce” out of his scheduled grudge fight with fellow Londoner Richard Riakporhe.
The fight was to have taken place on Frank Warren’s all-heavyweight card in Manchester, this on April 5. The original headline fight was to have seen Joe Joyce slug it out with fellow veteran Dillian Whyte, but Whyte also suffered an injury in training camp, with the word being (not yet 100 percent official) that Filip Hrgovic will step in and face Joyce instead.
Now we await news regarding whether or not another late replacement opponent can be found, this time for Riakporhe. The Ring broke the news regarding Okolie being injured and now unable to settle his beef with Riakporhe, a least not on the original date for the intriguing match up.
Injuries are of course an unavoidable part of the sport, but two fighters from the same card going down within days of each other really is a case of bad luck.
Let’s hope the Joyce-Hrgovic fight goes ahead without a hitch. Also set for the card are David Adeleye Vs. Jeamie TKV, this now for the vacant British heavyweight title, with amateur standout Delicious Orie to box his pro debut that night.
