‘I dodged a burger working at McDonald’s – now I need to be a world champ once more’

Before he was ducking punches, former cruiserweight world champion Lawrence Okolie was dipping out the way of a flying McDonald’s burger.

Not the ideal preparation for an ascent into boxing stardom. It may have sharpened his instincts for danger, injecting trust into his fast-twitch fibres which, when confronted by beefy stimuli, explode into action. Or, maybe, it’s a rite of passage all fast food workers tread at least once in their lives.

Okolie, 31, has endured a difficult few years on the boxing scene. His second fight since signing for BOXXER ended with him losing his WBO Cruiserweight Championship to former stable mate Chris Billam Smith. Okolie is not feeling sorry for himself – the Brit is throwing himself back into boxing’s deep fat fryer by challenging WBC bridgerweight world champion Lukasz Rozanski in Rzeszow, Poland on May 24.

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Okolie sees his goals and his targets without forgetting his humble past. When asked about his time at McDonald’s in an exclusive interview with Daily Star Sport, Okolie said: “You don’t forget. You don’t forget those things.

“I was there for a while. I was there for almost two years, so I remember the ins and outs of that place very well. It was a crazy turnaround because a lot of people maybe want to change their life or want take a risk – fortunately I did, and it paid off.”

Any prominent memories from his time in the most famous fast-food outlet on the planet, known for quick burgers and injury prone ice cream machines? Without thinking, Okolie said: “One time a guy asked for a burger without pickles. The pickles were given to him, despite me putting his order through without them.

“He threw it at me. It didn’t hit me, but he threw it and the chips in my direction. It took a lot of composure for me not to react because I needed the money anyway.”

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Demeaning moments like that would flick a switch in anybody. Yet, Okolie’s love for boxing was planted much earlier. After watching Anthony Joshua win super-heavyweight gold at the London 2012 Olympic Games, Okolie decided he wanted to take the boxing world by storm- a bold target for a 17-year-old with no boxing experience.

The 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro was his destination. When he told his folks about his new dream, many nodded in acknowledgement but with little belief.

“They were like: ‘Okay, cool’. It just seemed like such a distant, not really going to happen kind of thing. I was in Hackney, maybe, seven months before the Olympics and never had an international fight. Never even won a national senior title in England.

“I’m saying, I wanna get to Rio. So all of a sudden, in April 2016, I won a whole tournament and it was just such a quick turnaround. From then once I’d obviously made it to the Olympics it was like ‘Oh, he obviously must be decent’. I said I want to be a world champion and people were like, ‘OK, cool this. Let’s just see how far we can push it’.”

He won the WBO cruiserweight world championship in 2021, knocking out Krzysztof Glowacki in the sixth round. Okolie held the title for two years until his disappointing majority points decision loss to Billam-Smith.

Revenge would have been sweet, but Okolie’s boxing goals are more unique and bring a more unique pressure. “I am under more pressure,” he added. “It’s another world title fight. I’ve never really cared about being undefeated and so on and so forth. Looking at my record and the fights that I have had at any particular time, they were always the toughest.

“It was always 50/50 and: ‘Is he gonna win, isn’t he gonna win?’ Remaining undefeated was never my goal. There’s no way I’m gonna not have a hiccup or whatever else.

“There is still pressure because, obviously we want to win this fight. I enjoy boxing, but I only wanna do it at the highest level. If I can’t perform at a higher level, then I would obviously stop. That’s the pressure.”

Okolie has always spoken about his desire to jump up to heavyweight, ever since he became a professional. Standing at a whopping 6ft 5in, Okolie has the height and the reach to be a dangerous force in heavyweight boxing. Bridgerweight is sandwiched between his usual cruiserweight and the division which commands the most attention and the highest financial prizes. Simply, Okolie wants to be dominant in both.

“Winning this fight here would make me a two weight world champion,” he added. “There’s only one other way to become three weight world champion and that’s moving up to heavyweight.

“If the opportunity arises and the right fights and whatever else, then yeah, I would love to go out there and mix it with the biggest. I think the heavyweights is the most sought after division. And why not?”

To find out more about Lawrence Okolie’s fight against Lukasz Rozanski or to buy tickets visit BOXXER