Lawrence Okolie begins a new chapter under the BOXXER umbrella this Saturday evening, as he makes a third defence of his WBO cruiserweight title against New Zealand’s David Light at the Manchester Arena.
Sky Sports is the place to see Okolie vs Light.
Okolie (18-0, 14 KOs) parted ways with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom banner, although he did win the world title under their guidance, knocking out the respected Krzysztof Glowacki in six in March 2021 for the vacant belt.
A third round knockout of Dilan Prasovic six months later followed, but there was to be only one appearance for ‘The Sauce’ in 2022, a points win against Michal Cieslak in February after dropping the Pole in round five.
The Londoner’s first assignment under Ben Shalom is to deal with the hungry and unbeaten Light (20-0, 12 KOs).
The 31-year-old has recently been fighting both at home and in the USA, and he was last out in December 2022, getting off the deck in the tenth and last round against fellow unbeaten Brandon Glanton before going on to take a split decision and the vacant WBO Global and International straps.
Prediction: I can see Okolie wanting to put on a show in Manchester, and Light looks like a good opponent in order to do this. I think the champion can retain within the first half of the contest.
Clarke clashes with Dinu
2020 Team GB captain and Bronze medallist Frazer Clarke (5-0, 4 KOs) was due to face Rydell Booker in an eight round heavyweight contest, but Booker has been withdrawn, and in steps Bogdan Dinu (20-4, 16 KOs).
Prediction: Dinu has been stopped early in recent times by Daniel Dubois and Kevin Lerena, and I don’t see him hearing the final bell here either.
Artingstall battles Buczynsk
Fellow Olympian, and 2020 Bronze medallist Karriss Artingstall (2-0) also sees action, and the featherweight should take a points victory against Linzi Buczynskyj (4-1) over six rounds.
Fight week shenanigans, sharp last spar banked with the golden girl 😤 @LLPrice94 pic.twitter.com/X0ZyQaYQ5v
— Karriss Artingstall (@karriss_imogen) March 21, 2023
Gomez Jr faces Giles for English strap
There’s a competitive-looking English title clash on the bill, and Michael Gomez Jr (18-1, 5 KOs) can take the vacant super featherweight belt with a tight points win over Levi Giles (13-0, 3 KOs).
Remaining Undercard
Callum Simpson (10-0, 8 KOs) is one to watch, and the super middleweight will likely need the eight round distance to win against Celso Neves (9-3-2, 2 KOs), who went all eight frames with Felix Cash in his last outing.
At middleweight, Aaron McKenna (15-0, 8 KOs) can see off Lukas Ndafoluma (22-6, 11 KOs) before the end of their eight rounder, and at super welterweight, Samuel Antwi (14-2, 6 KOs) can bounce back from defeat to Ekow Essuman by halting Omir Rodriguez (13-4-1, 6 KOs) in their clash set for six rounds.
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Shakiel Thompson (9-0, 6 KOs) is back in action in a middleweight six rounder, where he may need the cards to take victory against Robert Talarek (27-17-3, 18 KOs).
In the remaining six rounders, Rhys Edwards (13-0, 4 KOs) should outscore Brian Phillips (12-3, 3 KOs ) at featherweight, and at lightweight, Frankie Stringer (4-0) can do the same against Jakub Laskowski (4-22-1, 2 KOs).
The sole four round contest comes at super welterweight, where Harvey Lambert (1-0, 1 KO) can take a points win against Casey Brown (4-1).
