Last month, 28-year-old Lawrence Okolie achieved his goal of becoming a world champion when he captured the vacant WBO cruiserweight title with a dominating knockout of Krzysztof Glowacki at Wembley Arena.

The big money, at least in the future, is certainly at heavyweight.

Okolie, who is managed by heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, is not looking to rush to the biggest division in boxing.

After winning the cruiserweight strap, Okolie received from friendly advice from good friend and heavyweight veteran Derek Chisora.

While Okolie (16-0, 13 KOs) has the size and possesses real power, he realizes that his best attributes will need an adequate amount of time to transition in the heavyweight division and he may be forced to make adjustments to his style.

The fight he wants next is a unification showdown with Latvia’s IBF cruiserweight king Mairis Briedis.

“I want to unify now. I saw Derek at ringside and he made me realize those guys are really big, so I need to focus on tactics a lot more," Okolie said.

“A lot of the things I have used in this division, like my size and strength, will not work for me at heavyweight. There is a lot more learning to do and still some big fights at cruiserweight because I want to unify. Briedis is my next target because I believe he is the best in the division and I want another step up.”

Briedis (27-1, 19 KOs) has been out of the ring since September of 2020, when he won the second World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight tournament with a twelve round decision over dangerous puncher Yuniel Dorticos.