On July 19th, while the packed Wembley Stadium eagerly awaits the Daniel Dubois vs. Oleksandr Usyk headliner, another interesting heavyweight clash on the undercard promises to steal attention: Lawrence Okolie vs. Kevin Lerena for the WBC Silver Heavyweight title.

Lerena from South Africa has been on the hunt for a shot at redemption since his defeat to Daniel Dubois in 2022. On the flip side, Londoner Okolie made the jump to the heavyweight division just last year, following a defeat to Chris Billam-Smith. This is just the right moment for him to make his entrance. Before the two step into the ring, let’s take a look at how they match up against one another.

Predicting Lawrence Okolie vs. Kevin Lerena: Who has better stats and record?

Even though the Londoner boasts a 21-1 record with 16 knockouts, his experience in the heavyweight division is still too limited to draw any conclusions. That said, it’s worth mentioning that both heavyweight fights wrapped up with a TKO in the first round, and he’s looking to pull off the same thing against Kevin Lerena. “I know what our game plan is. My last two fights have gone one round, so I’m gonna go out and try and get it done in one round,” he said, clearing all the doubts regarding his intentions.

Still, it won’t be a walk in the park going up against someone like Lerena. Referred to as ‘The KO Kid,’ the African steps into the ring with an impressive record of 31 wins and 3 losses, including 15 knockouts. His defining moment, quite ironically, happened during a loss to Daniel Dubois in 2022, when he knocked ‘DDD’ down three times in the first round, almost pulling off a historic upset before getting stopped in the third. With Dubois leading the charge on the July 19th card, Lerena is keen to show off how far he’s come, fix any past slip-ups, and throw a wrench in Lawrence Okolie’s plans.

Okolie vs. Lerena height, weight, reach comparison, and more

Physically, the Hackney-born fighter has a distinct edge. At 6’5″ (196 cm), Lawrence Okolie towers over the 6’1″ (185 cm) Kevin Lerena. This height advantage translates to reach, with Okolie’s 210 cm reach significantly outmatching African southpaw 188cm reach. And while the official weigh-in is yet to happen, we can take an educated guess about their weight from the last fight. For his last fight against Serhiy Radchenko, Lerena recorded a weight of 232lbs. On the other hand, Okolie came in at a massive 261.5lbs to face Hussein Muhamed. However, that was specifically to tackle Muhamed’s massive size. For the Wembley showdown, he would likely cut back to 230-235lbs.

Talking about the odds, due to the visible physical advantage, the bookmakers are favoring the Londoner. ‘The Sauce’ enters the fight as a heavy favorite with -250 odds. On the other hand, the African is clearly the underdog with +200 odds. In simple terms, the bookmakers are giving Lawrence Okolie A 69% chance of winning as compared to Kevin Lerena’s 31%.

With the stage set and experts choosing their favorites, the key question lingers: Will the fight unfold as predicted? We’ll have the answer soon.