WBO cruiserweight champion Lawrence Okolie weighed in at 200 lbs, and his mandatory challenger David Light came in at 198 1/4 lbs on Friday at the weigh-in for their 12-round headliner this Saturday night on March 25th at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.
The undefeated Okolie (18-0, 14 KOs) will be making his third defense of his WBO title since capturing it in 2021 against Krzysztof Glowacki.
Light (20-0, 12 KOs) isn’t a well-known fighter like some of the contenders in the division, but he’s coming off a good victory over Brandon Glandon last December to earn his shot against the tall 6’5″ Okolie.
Fans want Okolie vs. Richard Riakporhe
In Okolie’s two previous title defenses, he’s beaten Michal Cieslak and Dilan Prasovic in non-competitive fights. Boxing fans want to see Okolie defend against Richard Riakporhe (16-0, 12 KOs), as that would be a match-up between two equally tall 6’5″ fighters with similar one-punch power.
“This is nothing new to me. I’ve been headlining and having world title fights for a number of years. I just take away all the hype and get to what the job is, and the job is a boxing match,” said Lawrence Okolie to Secondsout, discussing his title defense against David Light this Saturday night in Manchester.
“I haven’t overlooked him. I know what he is, and he’s a good fighter. He’s very tough and very durable. I’ve been in with some undefeated fighters, and I believe I should be able to stop any cruiserweight, and I aim to do that.
“Obviously, you’re not going to forget what you’ve done with other coaches like Shane and Barry Robinson. I’ve kind of kept a little bit from everyone and kept going,” said Okolie when asked how things have been with new coach SugarHill Steward.
“There’s going to be more salt behind when I throw certain punches. It’s about executing. I want to kind of keep it consistent,” Okolie said about his desire to make his fights entertaining with knockouts.
Okolie-Light undercard weights
- Frazer Clarke (19st 5lbs) vs. Bogdan Dinu (17st 10lbs)
- Michael Gomez Jnr (9st 4lbs) vs. Levi Giles (9st 2lbs 5oz)
- Karriss Artingstall (9st) vs. Linzi Kuczyński (9st 2lbs)
- Callum Simpson (11st 4lbs 3oz) vs. Celso Neves (12st 0lbs 5oz)
- Rhys Edwards (9st 2lbs 5oz) vs. Brian Phillips (9st 3lbs 5oz)
- Shakiel Thompson (11st 12lbs 5oz) vs.Robert Talarek (11st 11lbs)
- Samiel Antwi (10st 13lbs) vs. Omar Rodriguez (10st 13lbs)
- Frankie Stringer (9st 12lbs) vs. Jacob Laskowski (9st 11lbs)
- Harvey Lambert (10st 13lbs) vs. Casey Brown (11st 5lbs 2oz)
