When one door closes, another opens.

Richard Riakporhe, 17-1 (13 KOs), and former two-weight world champion, Lawrence Okolie, 21-1 (6 KOs), are now competing at heavyweight and had been due to settle their long running grudge on Queensberry’s April 5th card in Manchester.

Last week, it was announced that Okolie had suffered an injury during training and had been forced to withdraw from the fight.

Having spent the past few months working hard to build himself up from cruiserweight, the news will have come as big blow to Riakporhe but he told Talksport that it looks like he will still be fighting on a high profile show in April.

“So, fortunately, my team we've been talking back and forth with Boxxer, Ben Shalom and they pretty much confirmed me for the 26th of April Eubank card so I guess that's good for me. So now we're just completely focused on that,” Riakporhe told TalkSport.

Okolie was recently elevated to the number one position in the WBC’s heavyweight rankings and Riakporhe is savvy enough to understand that pursuing a future title shot is likely to appeal to Okolie much more than rescheduling a fight with him.

Rather than waiting around for news about the severity of Okolie’s injury or a new date, it sounds like Riakporhe has decided to quickly move on.

The 35 year-old Londoner hasn’t boxed since last June when he was comfortably outpointed by Chris Billam-Smith in a WBO cruiserweight title tilt.

As disappointed as he is by Okolie’s withdrawal and the lack of detail surrounding the injury, Riakporhe knows that he can’t afford to spend much longer on the sidelines.

“I've not heard anything either. My team said they're gonna inquire and and ask for proof of injury but there's there's been nothing. Me personally, I don’t think he was injured,” he said.

“I think that [proof] should be imperative for us fighters.

“When we're training in camp, we're also spending money on the sparring partners and stuff.

“I think that's the kind of least that you do just for the integrity of a fighter, just to let them know, ‘ Look, this was the injury’ but, you know, each to their own.

“Once I heard that he was upgraded to the number one position in the WBC, I think that's when things start to fall through and to be honest, I understand the business side of boxing.

“I just thought, ‘OK, let me just focus on my career and what I need to do next’ and I wish him all the best.”