Frank Warren and Queensberry Promotions seem to have the future of the heavyweight division in a stranglehold and the Hall of Fame promoter is excited to drop his latest signing into the mix.

In December, former cruiserweight and bridgerweight world champion, Lawrence Okolie, 21-1 (16 KOs), weighed in at a surprisingly heavy 260lbs for his official heavyweight debut against Germany’s Hussein Muhamed but rather than slowing him down, the extra weight looked to have given the 32 year-old Londoner a new lease of life.

Okolie’s first round demolition of Polish veteran Lukasz Rozanski to win the WBC Bridgerweight belt last May hinted that he would be happier and more effective without having to worry about boiling his 6ft 5in frame down to 200lbs but the aggressive way in which he set about Muhamed confirmed it.

"I was surprised - because I'd never met him before - at how big he is. He’s a giant of a man and I'm thinking, ‘How on earth did he ever make cruiserweight?’” Warren told BoxNation.

“I heard an interview where he sort of half mentioned about he was struggling at the weight and I felt ‘OK, you fight a heavyweight. We’re on board with that. You’re a two-time world champion, we're on board with that. Show us what you're all about’ and he bloody did in a big, big way no doubt about that.

“What he did was phenomenal. That was an unbelievable knockout. He made a statement himself.”

Okolie currently sits at number four in the WBC heavyweight rankings. The only men above him are Tyson Fury, Agit Kabayel and Zhilei Zhang and with Kabayel and Zhang set to meet in a final eliminator in Saudi Arabia on February 22nd, the path will be clear for the 32 year-old to ascend even higher.

Whether Okolie faces somebody from the WBC rankings next in order to strengthen his own position or jumps into the current heavyweight free-for-all and takes on a name opponent, Warren wants him to build on the impetus his victory over Muhamed generated.

“We will see but he needs a big fight. He’s got to keep the momentum going and somebody may want to take his scalp to jump up the rankings. That’s why these fights are all competitive,” Warren said.

“That’s what it's all about. They’re going out and taking their chances and showing what they're all about.

“All these guys, none of them are backing off these fights. They're going into these fights, they know what's at stake.”