Okolie (23-1, 17 KOs) will travel to Paris to take on Yoka (15-3, 10 KOs) at the Adidas Arena in a fight that carries a real element of jeopardy for the 33-year-old Londoner.

Okolie sits at No. 1 in the WBC heavyweight rankings, just behind interim beltholder Agit Kabayel.

The sanctioning body's champion Oleksandr Usyk, who also holds the Ring, IBF and WBA titles, will defend that sole title against Dutch kickboxer Rico Verhoeven on May 23 in Cairo.

If Usyk beats Verhoeven as expected, the WBC has announced that he must make an immediate defense against Kabayel (27-0, 19 KOs).

Okolie doesn’t think that will happen, and knows he must beat Yoka to maintain his position as the next man in line.

“I personally obviously have to focus on Tony Yoka, but where Usyk is now boxing a kickboxer, I can't see him coming from that to saying, ‘OK, I’ll do the Kabayel fight.’ So I do think Kabayel will be elevated to full world champion, and then I’ll get my shot. So it's just about doing my job very well,” Okolie said on talkSPORT.

Three weeks after Okolie faces Yoka, two of his British rivals will meet in a potentially explosive heavyweight shootout. On May 9, WBO heavyweight champion Fabio Wardley will make the first defense of his belt against former IBF titleholder Daniel Dubois at Manchester’s Co-Op Live Arena.

Okolie has sparred with both men, and has a good idea of what will happen.

“I think it's a good fight. I think Dan should win, personally,” Okolie said. “I think that Dan's got a lot of experience. He might not be as sharp as Fabio is, but do think that he's consistent, punches very hard, and I think that unless Fabio is able to land something very good, very early, I do think that Dan will overwhelm him.”