Lawrence Okolie says he want to emulate David Haye in cruiserweight

UK: Lawrence Okolie aims to be a unified world cruiserweight champion like his hero David Haye.

Okolie had pictures of Haye on his bedroom wall growing up in Hackney and was inspired by him by winning the WBC, WBA and WBO cruiserweight titles.

Okolie, 28, wants to emulate Haye ahead of his WBO crown's first defense tonight against Dilan Prasovic.

"It's a mandatory defense and once it's settled Eddie Hearn knows what I want," he said.

“I had pictures of David Haye on my wall when I was a kid, with all the belts on, and I want to recreate this picture myself.

“In the cruiserweights, probably the best in this country has been David Haye as he unified three of the four belts and then moved on to heavyweight to win a world title.

“I want to be the best cruiserweight in Britain and the fact that I won the world title at a reasonable age means there is an opportunity to do so and to be unchallenged.

[caption id="attachment_37820" align="aligncenter" width="385"] Lawrence Okolie WBO Cruiseweight World Champion[/caption]

“I think it's possible as long as I win this one and then a unification or two. I have a few years to become one of Britain's top cruiserweights so I have to get there.

"I want to add myself to the list of the best of all time."

Callum Smith claims he can win a world light heavyweight title in his first 175-pound fight against Lenin Castillo.

Smith, 31, has joined new coach Buddy McGirt after losing his WBA Super and Ring magazine super middleweight titles to Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez last time in December.

“I was a 168-pound world champion and I think I'm good enough to be a 175-pound world champion,” he said.

"It's a good first step in this division and I'm confident with Buddy that I can do the exact same thing at this weight."