By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten WBO Cruiserweight Champion Lawrence Okolie of London, England takes on undefeated David Light of New Zealand in Manchester, England this Saturday, March 25th. The 12-rounder can be seen live in the UK on Sky Sports Action. Okolie beat Micheal Cieslak by unanimous decision in his last outing in February, 2022 while Light edged Brandon Glanton by a 10-round split decision in December to take the vacant WBO Global and WBO International Cruiserweight Titles after being dropped in the 10th round. Okolie stopped Krzysztof Glowacki in the sixth round in March, 2021 to win the vacant title and then stopped Dilan Prasovic in the third round in his first defence.
Okolie is 30 years old and big and lanky at 6-feet-5-inches with a perfect record of 18-0 with 14 Ko’s and is listed as having an 82.5-inch reach. He’s boxed 84 rounds since making his pro debut in 2017 and so far has displayed very impressive power with a current knockout ratio of 77.8 per cent. He won the vacant WBA Continental Cruiserweight Title in 2018 via a 10-round unanimous decision over Isaac Chamberlain.
Okolie then added the Commonwealth Crown a few months later by stopping Luke Watkins in the third round. He’s also beaten Matty Askin and Wadi Camacho to add the British Title and hoisted the European Cruiserweight Belt in October, 2019 with a seventh-round TKO of Yves Ngabu. He stepped up in class earlier in 2020 when he met Glowacki and passed the test with flying colours.
Before turning pro, Okolie enjoyed a fine amateur career and won the 2016 AIBA European Olympic Qualification Event. He boxed in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where he beat Igor Jakubowski of Poland and lost to Erislandy Savon of Cuba. Okolie also boxed in the World Series of Boxing in 2016 for Britain and was beaten by Erislandy Savon again.
The 31-year-old Light enters the bout with a perfect mark of 20-0 with 11 Ko’s and has boxed 85 rounds since making his pro debut in 2017 following a fine amateur career which saw him win a silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Since turning pro he’s also captured the New Zealand National, WBF Intercontinental, and the WBO Oriental Cruiserweight Titles. He stands just under 6-feet-2-inches tall and has an unlisted reach, so gives up 3.5-inches in height to Okolie.
Light has decent power as his current knockout ratio stands at 60 per cent but has gone the distance in five of his last nine fights. This will be his third fight outside of New Zealand and Australia as two of his last three contests have been in America. He’s taking a step up in class here as his biggest pro wins have come over Daniel Tai, Hunter Sam, Lance Bryant, Mark Flanagan, Trent Broadhurst and Anthony Martinez.
Light is a tough customer with a pretty good chin and decent power but Okolie is the size of a heavyweight, so he’ll have to get inside to cause damage. Okolie likes to keep his foes at bay with a fine jab and then follow up with his power shots. Okolie is expected to win this fight but I wouldn’t underestimate Light. Still, I’m going with Okolie here in a fairly exciting fight.
