Lawrence Okolie (19-1, 14 KOs) will return to action in May. The former Olympian and WBO cruiserweight world champion will travel to Poland to challenge Lukasz Rozanski (15-0, 14 KOs) for the WBC bridgerweight title, hoping to become a two-weight world champion. 

In May 2023, Okolie suffered the first defeat of his career to Chris Billam-Smith. He lost his undefeated record and world title, forcing Okolie to decide his future and how to proceed into 2024 and beyond.

Last month, following the confirmation of the 2016 Olympian’s impending journey to Poland, Okolie confirmed that he had split from training under SugarHill Steward in favour of Joe Gallagher, a former Ring Magazine Trainer of the Year and one of the UK’s most prominent coaches. 

Okolie was employed as a sparring partner for Joseph Parker to aid the former WBO heavyweight champion’s preparations for his December 23 victory of Deontay Wilder in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Gallagher assisted Okolie during his time spent with Parker and stated that Gallagher’s attitude and work ethic influenced the fighter’s decision to switch trainers.

“I think Joe’s a great trainer, he’s been trainer of the year in the past,” Okolie told Mail Sport.

“I trained with him when I was sparring Parker for Wilder, and he was in the corner while I was doing that. His mindset is very much, ‘I don’t care what you’ve got on the outside of the ring, I don’t care what you’ve done. We’re here to work, and you need to work to win this particular fight.’ So he’s got the right mindset.”

The prospect of traveling to enemy territory does not faze Okolie, who cites his experience against Billam-Smith, despite the defeat, as something that will stand him in good stead on May 24 against the hard-hitting Rozanski.

“I think I’ll handle it very well,” Okolie said of his impending hostile reception in Rzeszow.

“I’ve had the experience of boxing at Bournemouth where there were 15,000 Bournemouth fans that were all hoping that I lost, and for me it’s a great opportunity to right that wrong, mentally, where I go to someone’s back garden and I get the job done.”

Gallagher’s body of success includes winning world titles with the likes of Callum Smith, Liam Smith, Scott Quigg, Anthony Crolla and Natasha Jonas, along with domestic and international titles since the turn of the millennium, cementing his place as one of the UK’s most successful trainers. 

Okolie believes Gallagher’s desire to win will be a crucial factor against Rozanski. 

“We’re also going to Poland, so you want someone in your corner who wants to win as much as you do, and he cares about it,” Okolie said. “So I think it’s the perfect match for this.”