Hussein Muhamed views Saturday’s fight with Lawrence Okolie as a springboard to more lucrative contests in the heavyweight division.
Okolie fights for the first time as a heavyweight, having signed for Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions, who also continue to guide the careers of Tyson Fury, Daniel Dubois, Moses Itauma, Joe Joyce, Derek Chisora and more.
On the undercard of Brad Pauls-Denzel Bentley at Wembley Arena, he has been matched with Muhamed, who he sparred in the build-up to Anthony Joshua’s victory over Wladimir Klitschko in 2017.
The winner of Saturday’s fight – particularly given the expectation that their weight division will again open up should Oleksandr Usyk again defeat Tyson Fury on December 21 – can be expected to be matched with a higher-profile opponent in 2025, and while Okolie partly signed with Warren because of his influence at heavyweight, Muhamed is planning on replacing him.
The German – like Okolie, 31 years old – recognizes that since Klitschko’s retirement in the aftermath of his defeat by Joshua there have been fewer opportunities for heavyweights in his country, and he told BoxingScene: “It’s a very big stage. I love London – this city. It hits me very, very much. I was twice here for fights of AJ – AJ invited me – and I’m happy to fight in front of the English boxing fans, and that big stage.
“Frank Warren’s treated me well. It’s an opportunity to get a level up. I respect Lawrence Okolie, and I’m happy to fight in front of this big man – Frank Warren. He has a lot of heavyweights; he’s doing good. I watched his interviews. I watched his battle with Eddie Hearn. He’s doing very good the last few years, like he did for a long time.
“I love to be the underdog, and I love the British fans – their passion. The first time I saw the British fans at boxing it was Fury versus Klitschko. There was a lot of UK fans – they are crazy, man. I love them.”
Okolie insists he has no memory of having sparred Muhamed, but Muhamed said: “It was Klitschko’s fight with AJ. I helped AJ with sparring, and Lawrence was also there – Joe Joyce as well – and we all sparred together. We all did sparring. He was a nice guy. He was a gentleman.
“I was a guest of Matchroom Boxing and AJ. AJ really treated me very good – we still are friends. Now I don’t want [Okolie] to welcome me. I want war.
“He won a lot at cruiserweight, and a lot of cruiserweights that want to prove themselves mess with heavyweights. That’s what I expect of most cruiserweights, like Murat Gassiev or Oleksandr Usyk.
“I remember we did a few rounds, me and Lawrence. But he was much, much less weight. We had big gloves. He’s not bad.
“Back then, when we trained together, I watched some of his fights. After he got more successful, I didn’t see that much of him. Now I’ve started to watch his fights, because of the fight [organised between us]. He’s doing not bad, but I see a lot of things – a lot of things [I can exploit]. You have to prepare very good.
“I expect the strongest version of Lawrence Okolie, and I don’t expect that he’ll have a bad day or that he’s weak, or something. If I train with that mindset, that brings me to another level.
“People are used to seeing [Dmitry] Bivol, or Usyk, or [Artur] Beterbiev – this kind of fighter, looking good with technique. But there’s one thing looking good in the ring, and there’s being strong, and Lawrence is a former world champion for a reason. Terence Crawford; Gervonta [Davis]; Usyk, I love their fights. I will not say [Okolie’s] boring because this is not respectful, but I don’t like his style.”