Krzysztof Glowacki says there are weaknesses in Lawrence Okolie’s game and has promised to take ‘his’ WBO Cruiserweight World Title back home with him to Poland after he beats the Hackney contender at The SSE Arena, Wembley this Saturday, live on Sky Sports in the UK and on DAZN in the U.S. and more than 200 countries and territories.
Glowacki (31-2, 19 KOs) climbed off the canvas to score an eleventh round knockout over Germany’s Marco Huck to claim the WBO crown in 2015 before widely outpointing America’s Steve Cunningham at the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn in his first defence.
‘Glowka’, who is trained by Fiodor Łapin, was originally scheduled to face former Team GB star ‘The Sauce’ on December 12, however, the week prior to the fight, Glowacki, who is rated No. 3 by The Ring at 200 pounds, tested positive for COVID-19.
The 34-year-old former Interim belt holder, who suffered a controversial stoppage loss to Mairis Briedis in Riga last time out, has since been given a clean bill of health and is chomping at the bit for his ring return following a 21-month hiatus.
“I’m very happy I can finally fight after such a long layoff,” said Glowacki. “I was absolutely devastated when I found out I was Covid positive, but every cloud has a silver lining. Now I feel better than in December. When I came back to training after Covid, I had some stamina issues, but everything is OK now. I feel pumped up and ready.
“I’m hugely motivated for this fight. I’m going to have a great opponent in front of me who has big ambitions of his own. I heard Okolie had some plans to unify, but he has to beat me and it’s not going to happen. I will retrieve my belt and I will bring it back to Poland. I will become WBO World Champion for the third time in my career, there is no other option.
“Okolie is unbeaten, he’s big and he’s strong. He has long arms and a huge reach, but I’ve noticed some weaknesses that you will see on the night. I’m ready for this fight and I’m ready to beat him. You will see on Saturday how I will beat him up. I’ve had a lot of sparring partners who were tall and uncomfortable.
“The support I receive from the Polish people will always motivate me. It’s a shame that they cannot support me in person because a lot of people would have turned out to support me in London, but instead they will be cheering me on in front of their televisions. I’ll bring the belt home for them.”
Okolie vs. Glowacki tops a huge night of action in London, Welsh Super-Featherweight Joe Cordina (11-0, 7 KOs) meets Belgium’s Faroukh Kourbanov (17-2, 3 KOs) over ten rounds, Liverpool Super-Welterweight Anthony Fowler (13-1, 10 KOs) returns against Spain’s Jorge Fortea (21-2-1, 7 KOs) with the WBA International Title on the line, Bournemouth Cruiserweight Chris Billam-Smith (11-1, 10 KOs) looks to keep his KO streak going against Vasil Ducar (9-3-1, 8 KOs), Ramla Ali (1-0) faces Bec Connolly (3-8) in her second pro fight, Catford Featherweight Ellie Scotney (1-0) meets Mailys Gangloff (4-1, 1 KO) over six rounds and Stretford Middleweight Bradley Rea (9-0, 3 KOs) takes on Bournemouth’s Lee Cutler (7-0, 4 KOs).
