Lawrence Okolie vs Hussein Muhamed Predictions: Heavyweight bow for ‘The Sauce’

Lawrence Okolie makes his bow in the blue riband division this Saturday, December 7 as his debuts at heavyweight against Hussein Muhamed. The bout takes place at the latest iteration of Frank Warren’s stacked ‘Magnificent 7’ series at Wembley Arena. TNT Sports will broadcast the event, headlined by Brad Pauls vs Denzel Bentley.

Here are my Okolie vs Muhamed predictions ahead of this big night for ‘The Sauce’.

It can be argued that this is actually a heavyweight debut in name only for Okolie. After all, the former cruiserweight champion captured the WBC bridgerweight title in his last fight. The 31-year-old weighed 223 ½ pounds  for that outing, a first-round smashing of Lukasz Rozanski that exposed the shallow nature of that spurious division.

Okolie actually weighed the same for Rozanski as Oleksandr Usyk did while unifying the undisputed heavyweight championship this year. While the WBC and WBA recognise the freshly-minted bridgerweight division, if you can beat Tyson Fury while weighing 223 pounds then you’re probably just a heavyweight.

But this is Okolie’s first outing with the official designation and all that comes with it. The Hackney puncher is targeting big fights in boxing’s traditional banner division. Unlike the slovenly 1980s or the anonymous 2000s, the heavyweight class is actually living up to its billing at the moment. With Usyk and Fury meeting again this month, the rest of the division is filled with exhilaration.

There’s IBF champion Daniel Dubois, who defends his belt against Joseph Parker in February. Zhilei Zhang takes on Agit Kabayel on the same card. Anthony Joshua remains a significant factor while Deontay Wilder is threatening a comeback. Martin Bakole and Fabio Wardley each look likely to have a say in the division’s future too. 

Okolie comes into this fertile environment looking to move quickly. But first he must show proof of concept, which is where Muhamed comes in. The German has been brought in as a canvas upon which ‘The Sauce’ will look to paint a sufficient masterpiece to entice bigger fights down the road.

Muhamed’s 18-1 record flatters to deceive. Those fights were won at domestic level and his loss was a third-round knockout at the hands of Zhan Kossobutskiy. This set of circumstances makes for a perfect opponent at this stage of Okolie’s journey. Muhamed can be stopped, but he is not a compliant professional loser coming to simply roll over.

What will be interesting is the transference of power here. We saw how hard Okolie could hit at cruiserweight, with 14 knockouts in 19 wins during a campaign that saw him lift the WBO championship. At bridgerweight too, we saw Okolie could still bang. Rozanski was rudimentary, but he had never lost before. The Brit wiped him out in seconds.

Muhamed is a big man, though. Scaling nearly 265 pounds at his biggest, the 33-year-old will present a physical challenge unlike any Okolie has faced. The two-weight world champion is a far more accomplished boxer than Muhamed, but it will be interesting to see him try and navigate the biggest man he has ever boxed.

Okolie vs Muhamed Fight Odds

Okolie is 1/16 here, a reflection of his status as a world class competitor compared to Muhamed’s (7/1) local experience. A draw is 20/1 but looks unlikely. 

Okolie vs Muhamed Full Card

Brad Pauls vs. Denzel Bentley

Sam Noakes vs. Ryan Walsh

Solomon Dacres vs. David Adeleye

Lawrence Okolie vs. Hussein Muhamed

Aloys Youmbi vs. Lewis Oakford

Sean Noakes vs. Mathew Rennie

Pierce O'Leary vs. TBA

Royston Barney-Smith vs. Andres Navarrete

Billy Adams vs. Jonatas Rodrigo Gomes de Oliveira

George Crotty vs. Dylan Courtney

Okolie vs Muhamed Prediction

Okolie is taking this, of that I have no doubt. I think he’ll look good too. Blink and you’ll miss this. I am going to opt for round two, giving ‘The Sauce’ a chance to find his range. My pick is Okolie in the second at 9/2.

You can find all our latest boxing betting tips and analysis at our Betfred Insights Boxing page and our latest boxing odds here.