Lawrence Okolie talks to two-time world heavyweight title challenger Luis 'King Kong' Ortiz. The former WBO cruiserweight champion (21-1, 16 KOs) is taking a slow approach to adapting to the heavyweight division.

Cuban Ortiz (34-3, 29 KOs) turns 46 on March 29 but is still dangerous because of his power, size and technical skills. His ring IQ and athletic ability far outweigh the 6’5″ Okoli. If Ortiz lands the unhinged 'Sauce' Okoli, he could knock him out and ruin his heavyweight ambitions.

Okoli vs. Ortiz is in the works

Okoli's two heavyweight fights are against Hussain Muhammad and Lukasz Rozanski. Both of these guys were terrible and completely useless for Okolie to really ramp up for a world title shot. However, if the idea is to feed Okolie a can of tomatoes to make him appear invincible, matching him against such fighters is the way to go.

In Lawrence's last fight at cruiserweight, he was defeated by Chris Williams-Smith, losing by 12-round majority decision on May 27, 2023. That fight was the writing on Okolie's wall that his time as the cruiserweight 'champion' was over. Okoli will not do well with the talented new crop of fighters, Joy Opetaya and David Nyeka. So, he moved up to heavyweight to reinvent himself.

Ortiz is coming off a first round knockout win over Francisco Cordero in Colombia on January 13th of last year. “King Kong' Ortiz was inactive for two years after losing a 12-round unanimous decision to the former world champion. Andy Ruiz on September 14, 2022.

Ortiz gave Ruiz pure hell in that fight, landing frequently at the 268-pounder. The Cuban would have won had Luiz not been dropped in rounds two and seven. In Ortiz's previous fight on January 1, 2022, he knocked out former heavyweight champion Charles Martin in the sixth round.

Former cruiserweight champion Lawrence Okolie, now campaigning at heavyweight, is in talks to fight Luis Ortiz in the UK, a source told ESPN. Ortiz, 45, returned to a shake-of-the-rust fight last January. It was his first fight since a competitive loss to Andy Ruiz in 2022.

— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) January 20, 2025