I’ve always thought Okolie won’t transition to heavyweight well. Obviously he will win today but seemingly a big strength of his at cruiser was being taller and heavier and able to hold and maul. At heavyweight he will still have punch power but the holding and mauling won’t work as his opponents will be 6ft6 and 250+ for the most part.
His body looks awful and he crushed a can, as he did at Cruiserweight. Wouldn't be against him facing Adeleye or Joyce next. Both of them are in attendance tonight.
joshj909 wrote: ↑07 Dec 2024, 16:44
His body looks awful and he crushed a can, as he did at Cruiserweight. Wouldn't be against him facing Adeleye or Joyce next. Both of them are in attendance tonight.
I am not sure why his body look makes a bean of difference. Unless you like looking at muscley men.
funso banjo baby wrote: ↑07 Dec 2024, 17:10
Looking at the dacres ko.....on the replays it's a very very glancing blow.
Yeah just seen it, one angle it doesn’t even look like a punch landed, another angle it shows it literally just clipping him. Didn’t look much but hard to know the effect they can have but his legs stiffened and his balance went on him.
joshj909 wrote: ↑07 Dec 2024, 16:44
His body looks awful and he crushed a can, as he did at Cruiserweight. Wouldn't be against him facing Adeleye or Joyce next. Both of them are in attendance tonight.
I am not sure why his body look makes a bean of difference. Unless you like looking at muscley men.
I think when transitioning between weight classes it's important that they are able to be effectively fast or strong or fit in the new weight class. Here it looked like he added a load of belly weight without adding comparably significant muscle to other parts of his frame. Just my opinion.
he's been talking a lot how he likes being at hw because he can eat whatever he wants, and that he's now eating all the time. doesnt sound or look like smart bulking tbf sean.
margaret thatcher wrote: ↑08 Dec 2024, 16:19
he's been talking a lot how he likes being at hw because he can eat whatever he wants, and that he's now eating all the time. doesnt sound or look like smart bulking tbf sean.
Yes to go from around 230lbs to 260lbs won't help him be successful IMO.
The best heavyweights may not do crazy weight cuts but they are still very disciplined with their diet as opposed to "eating whatever they want" or "eating all the time".
His natural body type maybe more Tyson Fury than AJ but I still think 260lbs is far too much.
Taansend wrote: ↑10 Dec 2024, 01:19
That's the debut out of the way.
Now make Okolie vs Bakole in a battle of the Ole's. Sombrero's all round.
Just never ever , been able to understand why promoters not only put boring , non ticket selling fighters ons there shows, let alone pay good money to get them non competetive easy fights , its completly got me stumped
Taansend wrote: ↑10 Dec 2024, 01:19
That's the debut out of the way.
Now make Okolie vs Bakole in a battle of the Ole's. Sombrero's all round.
Just never ever , been able to understand why promoters not only put boring , non ticket selling fighters ons there shows, let alone pay good money to get them non competetive easy fights , its completly got me stumped
Okolie has had some boring fights but he’s won his last 2 by first round KO and looked good in those fights. He already has a pretty high ranking with the WBC at heavyweight and could find himself in some pretty big fights.
The heavyweight division is so crap, not sure why people are writing him off. He was huge at cruiser. Sure his style is a bit more like Johnny Nelson than Evander Holyfield - so his size was a big big factor at Cruiserweight, but still the heavyweights are pretty useless - Derek Chisora is still nocking about at close to world level FFS and he was a gatekeeper 12/13 years ago.
If people are still saying Michael Hunter vs Bakole 2 is a meaningful fight and Bakale is in many people's top 5 now, then why not Okolie having a real run at it.
I don't tip him to beat Fury and I don't tip him to beat Usyk, I probably also think he might be intimidated against Dubois (a natural big heavyweight) - but the likes of Parker, Zhang etc - definitely winnable fights for Okolie.
I do think weight was a big factor in the CBS performance and I think also he is fighter who learns from mistakes - I would expect him to be much more successful at Heavyweight than if CBS moved up.
