Frank Warren and company are hitting the road this spring, putting on an April 2th doubleheader at Paris’ Le Double.
The heavyweight featured attraction pits former cruiserweight champion Lawrence Okolie (23-1, 17 KO) against Olympic gold medalist and local favorite Tony Yoka (15-3, 12 KO). Following his ungainly defeat to Chris Billam-Smith “The Sauce” , then put on another 35 pounds to campaign as a proper big man. He’s had a very Okolish time of it lately, blowing out a pair of designated victims and cruising to an easy UD over Kevin Lerena.
Yoka got his medal under suspicious circumstances and never quite panned out as a pro, winning his first 11 before dropping three straight to Martin Bakole (well-aged), Carlos Takam (rough but kind of understandable), and Ryad Merhy (oof). He’s 4-0 since over forgettable opposition; the closest thing to a meaningful win came over unbeaten but unproven Russian Arslan Yallyev, who himself is most notable for sounding like a Russian cowboy.
It’ll probably be more fun to sit there and say “Yokolie” to yourself (seriously, try it out) than to actually watch the fight, but at least it keeps Okolie safely quarantined from actual contenders.
A much more interesting co-feature sees 22-year-old super welterweight contender Bakary Samake (19-0, 11 KO) battle Miami-based Albanian Ermaj Hadribeaj (22-0-1, 8 KO). The victor could find himself on the verge of a title shot; both sit in the WBC top five and Bakary also sports a no. 7 rank with the IBF, which has yet to crown a new mandatory challenger after Josh Kelly’s upset of Bakhram Murtazaliev.
