Lawrence Okolie: Fabio Wardley could be one fight away | 'I'll sneak up on a heavyweight title shot'

Lawrence Okolie, the former cruiserweight world champion, is making his move in the heavyweight division.

Having held the WBC title at bridgerweight – their new 224lb weight class – Okolie is now ranked at No 5 with the sanctioning body.

If he comes through his bout on Saturday against Hussein Muhamed, he will target the winner of Zhilei Zhang vs Agit Kabayel for the WBC Interim title or potentially rival Briton Fabio Wardley as he waits for the opportunity to fight for the WBC world championship.

The WBC belt, along with the WBO and WBA titles, will be on the line when Tyson Fury rematches Oleksandr Usyk on December 21.

“There’s no escaping the fact that I’m ranked No 5 right now and there’s opportunities there to be in world title fights at heavyweight. So that’s the ultimate game,” Okolie told Sky Sports.

“My first aim is to win a world title and I do think someone like Fabio is only a fight or two away.

“I win this fight this weekend. I think it’s all there to be done. It’s just about getting my first heavyweight fight out of the way.”

Becoming a heavyweight champion is an unlikely dream for Okolie. But the man from Hackney now feels it is possible.

“By the time I win this fight, I might be No 3. [Joseph] Parker has now gone for the IBF, Fury and Usyk will have fought,” Okolie said.

“It’s just all there to be done. I’m going to sneak up on a WBC world title shot and we’ll go from there.

“To end it with a heavyweight world title would be undeniable, unbelievable.”

He will be one of the contenders jostling for position when Usyk and Fury fight for the unified WBC, WBO and WBA world heavyweight titles later this month.

Okolie, who’s sparred Fury before, believes the former champion will emerge victorious from the Usyk rematch and become the man to beat in the division once again.

From sharing the ring with him Okolie’s seen much more of Fury’s full repertoire than most.

“That was the main thing – adapting. He’s a big guy. He’s got lots of different things he can do. He can try and box long or he can try and walk you down or he can hold his feet and he’s a heavy guy so if he gets hold of you and leans on you, it’s a lot of weight,” Okolie explained.

“He’s very talented so it means he can do a lot of things. Sometimes that comes with a negative because you can kind of get lost in a whole bunch of different things instead of locking onto one, which I think probably happened in the last fight.

“I think Fury’s going to win [the rematch]. I think he’s just got a little bit more that he can bring out of himself. The last fight was so close but Usyk was perfect as he always is. So I think that’s as much as we’re going to get from Usyk.

“So if Fury’s able to improve or change, maybe be a little bit more focused, a bit more aggressive, maybe he gets the win or a stoppage.”