By Oyinlola Awonuga Balogun (The New Diplomat’s Entertainment, Fashion and Sports Desk)
Lawrence Okolie a British national born to Nigerian parents has been crowned winner over Krzysztof Glowacki as the new WBO cruiserweight champion.
According to reports, Okolie demonstrated his huge power with a dominant display over Glowacki at Wembley Arena, ending the fight in the sixth round with an explosive right hand after controlling the early rounds.
This has made Okolie the UK’s newest world champion in just his 16th professional fight.
Okolie was scheduled to fight Glowacki for the vacant belt last December only for his opponent to be withdrawn from the contest after a positive Covid-19 test.
The Londoner instead blasted out Nikodem Jezewski inside two rounds and looked picked up from where he left off on Saturday night with world title gold within his grasp.
Okolie, trained by Shane McGuigan since May 2019, with ease dictated the fight from the opening bell, boxing well from distance before rocking his opponent with a stiff jab in the fourth.
Fluid and composed in his work, Okolie, boasting a sizeable reach advantage, continued to pick his shots expertly, tagging Glowacki with relative ease and opening up a cut above his left eye.
With Glowacki breathing heavily and the end of the fifth, Okolie produced the finish moments later, flooring his opponent with a huge right hand that left the former world champion unable to meet the referee’s count.
Okolie now has his sights on unifying the cruiserweight division with champions Mairis Briedis (IBF), Ilunga Makabu (WBC) and Arsen Goulamirian (WBA) in his crosshairs.
The 28-year-old has also made little secret of his desire to follow his manager and mentor Anthony Joshua up to the heavyweight decision.
Speaking to newsmen after his victory, Okolie said:”It is crazy crazy, I feel happy and blessed,” Okolie stated. “It is surreal.
“I had confidence throughout the week, was very calm.
“Shane reminded me not to rush, and it went exactly to plan. I said I’d get it done between rounds five and eight,” he added.
Cruiserweight, also referred to as junior heavyweight, is a weight class in professional boxing between light heavyweight and heavyweight.
Before the advent of the current cruiserweight class, “light heavyweight” and “cruiserweight” were sometimes used interchangeably in the United Kingdom.
