Lawrence Okolie goes for world title glory at a second weight this Friday evening in Wroclaw, Poland, as he challenges Lukasz Rozanski for the WBC bridgerweight title.
Ben Shalom’s BOXXER co-promote, and Sky Sports show the card in the UK.
Okolie (19-1, 14 KOs) has been a frustrating watch over the years since turning pro in 2017, mixing performances of destruction with ugly mauls of fights.
The Hackney man won British, Commonwealth and European titles, and then took the vacant WBO world title with a sixth round knockout of Krzysztof Glowacki in March 2021.
Three defences followed, where ‘The Sauce’ put in a mixture of decent and laboured performances, but he came unstuck in May last year, dropping his belt to former stablemate Chris Billam-Smith in a curious effort where he was down three times, and deducted points for holding on two occasions.
The 31-year-old would lose via majority decision. A move in weight has been the response, where he hopes to breathe new life into his career.
Home fighter Rozanski (15-0, 14 KOs) has been largely untroubled as a professional, only going the distance once in his second fight, and a 2021 first round win over Artur Szpilka raised eyebrows in his homeland.
The 38-year-old then received a shot at the vacant WBC bridgerweight crown last April, that had only been in existence since 2020, and grabbed that chance with both hands, making a mockery of the danger posed by Alen Babic, wiping the Croatian out in just over two minutes.
Prediction: Okolie needs to box without fear, and without his penchant for holding and mauling, and if he can do that, he can take this title by stoppage.
Czerkaszyn clashes with Cota
The chief support comes at middleweight, where home fighter Fiodor Czerkaszyn faces Jorge Cota over ten rounds.
Czerkaszyn (23-1, 14 KOs) lost his unbeaten record with a majority decision loss to Anauel Ngamissengue in August last year, but rebounded with a points win in his last outing in February.
Cota (31-6, 28 KOs) has lost three of his last six contests, but in good company.
Prediction: I can see him taking the Pole the distance, before losing on the cards.
Remaining Undercard
In eight rounders, Jan Czerklewicz (12-1, 3 KOs) should bank a points win at super middleweight against Paul Valenzuela Cuesta (28-11, 18 KOs) and Ihosvany Rafael Garcia (12-0, KO9) can win early at light heavyweight against Lukasz Plawekci (7-1-2, KO4).
In four round action, Tobias Zarzeczny (5-0, 2 KOs) should come through on the cards against Daniel Przewieslik (3-13-2, 3 KOs) at super middleweight, and cruiserweight hope Kamil Slendak (1-1) can bank a points win against the unbeaten Daniel Plonka (1-0, 1 KO).
