Richard Riakporhe vows to knock out WBO cruiserweight champion Lawrence Okolie

Riakporhe returns to the ring this weekend at Wembley Arena

Riakporhe is the current British cruiserweight champion (Getty Images)

British cruiserweight champion Richard Riakporhe has called out WBO world title holder Lawrence Okolie, claiming he would win a fight between the two by knockout.

Riakporhe has established himself as one of the best domestic fighters in the 200 pound weight class and has now set his sights on world honours.

Meanwhile, Okolie won the WBO cruiserweight title with a sixth round stoppage win over Krzysztof Glowacki back in March.

He then defended the belt at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday night with a third round knockout of mandatory challenger Dilan Prasovic, featuring as the chief support to Oleksandr Usyk’s win over Anthony Joshua.

But Riakporhe, who is 11-0 as a professional, believes he would get the better of the fellow undefeated Brit.

Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “Absolutely. When I came to this game, I didn’t come here to make up the numbers. I came here to prove myself and to test myself. I want to test myself against the very best. I think it would be an amazing fight.

“Two big punchers, everyone is going to want to invest in that. Someone is going to get knocked out and it’s not going to be me.

“All the fans say we want to see this fight. The fans have the power, they have the control, we perform for them.

“It’s all about the demand. A lot of fans are already calling for the fight. Everybody still wants to see that fight, even though they haven’t seen me for a while. It could literally be around the corner.”

Riakporhe has struggled with inactivity and has not fought since December 2019.

But he returns to the ring this weekend as he steps in against Poland’s Krzysztof Twardowski, who holds a record of 9-2.