Lawrence Okolie truly put the “heavy” in his official heavyweight debut.
The former cruiserweight and bridgerweight titlist checked in a beefy 260.8 pounds in what marks his first fight both at heavyweight and under the Queensberry Promotions banner. Okolie will face Germany’s Hussein Muhamed (18-1, 14 KOs), who was 261.2 pounds for their scheduled 12-round contest.
Okolie-Muhamad is among the latest installment of Hall of Fame promoter Frank Warren’s “Magnificent 7” series. The show will air live on TNT Sports in the UK and DAZN elsewhere, beginning at 1:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m GMT from OVO Arena Wembley in London.
Okolie surpassed his heaviest weight by 37 pounds, which came in his last fight. The 2016 Great Britain Olympian and former two-division titlist was 223 ½ pounds for his first-round knockout of unbeaten Lukasz Rozanski (15-0 at the time) on May 24 in Rzeszow, Poland. The win saw Okolie nab the WBC bridgerweight title, which he has since abandoned in exchange for a top five placement in the WBC heavyweight rankings.
Prior to that, Okolie suffered his lone career defeat. He dropped a 12-round, majority decision to Chris Billam-Smith last May 27 to end his WBO cruiserweight title reign. Okolie suffered three knockdowns and two point deductions in defeat in Billam-Smith’s hometown of Bournemouth, England.
Headlining the show, Brad Pauls and Denzel Bentley both made weight for their twelve-round European and British middleweight title fight. Pauls (19-1-1, 11 KOs), who hails from Newquay, Cornwall, was 159.7 pounds. London’s Bentley (20-3-1, 17 KOs)—from nearby Wadsworth—checked in at a trim and fit 158.7 pounds.
Pauls came up aces in a 12th round stoppage of unbeaten Nathan Heaney (now 18-1-1, 6 KOs) in their July 20 rematch at Resort World Arena (now bp pulse LIVE) in Birmingham. The two fought to a twelve-round, split decision draw on March 16 at the same venue.
At stake in addition to a potential future title shot is a spot in The Ring middleweight top ten rankings. The winner will enter in place of Kazakhstan’s Meiirim Nursultanov (20-0, 11 KOs), who exits due to inactivity.
Below are the weights for the remaining undercard bouts.
Sam Noakes (15-0, 14 KOs), Maidstone, Kent, 134.7 pounds vs. Ryan Walsh (29-4-2, 13 KOs), Cromer, Norfolk, 134.7 pounds—12 rounds, lightweight
Solomon Dacres (9-0, 3 KOs), Warley, West Midlands, 237.6 pounds vs. David Adeleye (12-1, 11 KOs), Ladbroke Grove, London, 235.7 pounds—10 rounds, cruiserweight
Aloys Youmbi (8-1, 7 KOs), Penge, London, 199.2 pounds vs. Lewis Oakford (6-1, 0 KOs), Homerton, London, 198.9 pounds—10 rounds, cruiserweight
Sean Noakes (8-0, 4 KOs), Maidstone, Kent, 146.6 pounds vs. Mathew Rennie (14-0-1, 1 KO), Douglas, Isle of Man, 146.4 pounds—10 rounds, welterweight
Royston Barney-Smith (12-0, 6 KOs), Southampton, Hampshire, UK, 132.6 pounds vs. Andres Navarrete (12-2, 3 KOs), Tumaco, Colombia, 132.6 pounds—8 rounds, featherweight
Pierce O'Leary (15-0, 8 KOs), Dublin, Ireland, 145.9 pounds vs. Jose Perdomo (6-2, 3 KOs), Las Piedras, Uruguay, 146 ½ pounds—8 rounds, welterweight
George Crotty (pro debut), Royston, Hertfordshire, 176.8 pounds vs. Dylan Courtney (2-17-2, 1 KO), Penzace, Corwall, 177.9 pounds—4 rounds, light heavyweight
Billy Adams (4-0, 0 KOs), Dagenham, Essex, 132 ½ pounds vs. Jonatas de Oliveira (6-16, 5 KOs), Muana, Brazil, 131.3 pounds—6 rounds, junior lightweight
Jake Donovan is part of the U.S. team for The Ring. Follow Jake on X and Instagram.