Lawrence Okolie finds himself in an unusual position, having built himself a successful business empire that means he can walk away from the sport as a wealthy man. However, is also the No.1 ranked heavyweight with the WBC and takes on Kevin Lerena this Saturday at London’s Wembley Stadium.
The multi-millionaire heavyweight was flipping burgers in McDonalds as recently as 2017, but now owns a host of successful restaurants and supermarkets with his business partner and friend Themba Smith. Despite not having to fight for a living anymore, Okole is continuing to compete in a sport that so often takes more than he gives out.
Okolie spoke to BoxingScene after a hard day’s sparring up in Manchester and was asked the question, why continue with his future secured?
“It's a mix, it's a love for the game, and then also I'm good at it so might as well keep going, and I've still got ambition,” The 32-year-old replied. “I'm getting up, doing all of this training, because I want to cement my legacy with a third world title – I think that that makes me undeniable.
“World championships are great, and money is great, but I do want that last little bit of legacy for my kids to be able to look at and say, ‘My dad did X, Y, Z, and he came back,’ and, you know, all different parts of the story to sort of teach them dedication, resilience, believing in yourself, coming back from whatever, pushing on, handling pressure. There's loads of things I still want to do in boxing, so that's what it's about.”
Okolie has surrounded himself with people that reminded him of the harsh realities of boxing.
“My manager and best friend [Smith], he's sort of switched on to all of that kind of stuff,” Okolie said. “So, he kind of reminded me and let me know that there's a life after boxing, ‘When you get into your 40s you're gonna not be able to hit as hard and as fast and do what you do now, so you have to start planning for that’.”
Okolie is one of very few fighters to build themselves an income besides fighting. Many fighters do not plan for the future when they are flying high at the top of the sport, with the dollars seemingly falling from the sky. It seems as though the money will never dry up, but it does, and so many are forced to come out of retirement to earn a few extra quid. Some may even do so for the thrill, but we are seeing more and more come back at an age closer to gaining a bus pass than their fighting primes.
“Yeah I'm saying it's tough,” Okolie said, “because when you're living it sometimes, I've been there you feel invincible, you feel like you can't lose, you feel like the money's always going to keep coming, and you set yourself up for a lifestyle that it's tough to maintain if you're not making massive income. So, it's all about pushing towards those types of things.”
