While Lawrence Okolie has set his sights on Badou Jack, his promoter, Ben Shalom, isn’t overly convinced the Swede would take the fight.
On Saturday evening, ‘The Sauce’ successfully defended his WBO Cruiserweight world title against mandatory challenger, David Light.
In a fight that some criticised, the towering Brit utilised his physical strength and dynamite right hand to dominate his brave Kiwi challenger over a relatively comfortable twelve rounds.
Read: Exclusive: Lawrence Okolie wants super fight with Badou Jack (sporf.com)
Going into the contest, his opponent looked like a worthy adversary. The Commonwealth Silver Medalist had compiled a perfect 20-0 record as a professional, including a victory over highly-touted American prospect, Brandon Glanton.
But in a testament to Okolie’s class, he won the contest with ease and is now excited to go toe-to-toe against the best in the division.
From a domestic standpoint, bouts with Chris Billam-Smith and Richard Riakporhe undeniably whet the appetite. In addition, Australian IBF champion Jai Opetaia and French WBA King Arsen Goulamirian would both present interesting propositions. But there’s one man who stands out from the pack as the most interesting test for the Londoner.
Lawrence Okolie wants Badou Jack, but according to Ben Shalom, it won’t happen
On February 26, Badou Jack triumphed over Illunga Makabu to pick up the WBC world title.
The epic 11th-round knockout proved the Swede has plenty left in the tank and solidified a future place in the Hall of Fame.
Therefore, the boxing public desperately wants to see Okolie against the man who is undeniably the biggest name in the division. However, according to BOXXER promoter, Ben Shalom, that fight isn’t happening anytime soon.”
Speaking exclusively to SPORF, he said: “We would absolutely love that fight. But I don’t think there’s any amount of money we can pay that’s going to convince Badou Jack to fight Lawrence Okolie. Any amount of money. And that’s just the facts of it.”
Fans can only hope that Jack will rise to the occasion and prove Shalom wrong.
Featured Image Credit: Getty & Badou Jack
