By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten WBO Cruiserweight Champion Lawrence Okolie takes on undefeated Dilan Prasovic of Montenegro in the champ’s hometown of London, England this Saturday, Sept. 25th. Okolie stopped Krzysztof Glowacki in the sixth round in March to win the vacant title and is defending it for the first time. Prasovic last fought May when he halted Tomislav Rudan in the in fourth round. This weekend’s tilt can be seen live on DAZN in most nations while those in the UK can catch it on Sky Sports Box Office as it’s on the undercard of the Joshua vs Usyk fight.
Okolie is just 28 years old and big and lanky at 6-feet-5-inches with a perfect record of 16-0 with 13 Kos and is listed as having an 82.5-inch reach. He’s boxed 69 rounds since making his pro debut in 2017 and so far has displayed better-than-average power with a current knockout ratio of 81.3 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 the year 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 the British and was beaten by Erislandy Savon again.
The 26-year-old Prasovic enters the bout with a perfect record of 15-0 with 12 Kos. He’s also got pretty good power in his punches with a current knockout ratio of 80 per cent. However, his list of opponents so far doesn’t include anybody on the world level so he’ll be stepping up in class for the first time this weekend. In fact, just seven of his 15 opponents have had winning records.
These have been Mate Kristof (7-6), Angelo Venjakob (5-1), Abraham Tabul (12-0-1), Juan Ezequiel Basualdo (11-3-1), Rad Rashid (17-6), Jackson Dos Santos (22-13) and Edan Puhalo (19-0). His last opponent, Tomislav Rudan, entered the ring in March with a mark of 7-29-1. Still, Prasovic has been going about his business and taking care of everybody placed in front of him.
His second-round KO over Kristof was for the vacant WBO Youth Cruiserweight Title in 2018 and he defended it against Venjakob two months later with a stoppage in just 108 seconds. There’s no height and reach information available for Prasovic but you can be certain he gives up both height and reach to Okolie. Prasovic turned pro in 2014 and has boxed 60 rounds since. He enjoyed a fine amateur career with over 100 bouts to his name.
Prediction…
It’s hard to tell how a boxer will react when taking a step up in class as it’s his first real test. Prasovic apparently has the power to cause problems for Okolie but he’s going to have to get inside to do so. I’m expecting Prasovic to put up a good fight on Saturday but think Okolie’s size, jab and power will ultimately be too much for him. Okolie is expected to win this battle in his hometown but I wouldn’t underestimate Prasovic’s power. However, I’m going with the champion here.
