Manchester, England – Lawrence Okolie‘s world championship title defence tomorrow night is now official, following both fighters making weight at today’s pre-fight weigh-ins in Manchester, England.
The defending WBO world cruiserweight champion faces undefeated New Zealand-based challenger David ‘The Great White’ Light, a Commonwealth Games silver medallist who has fought his way to mandatory challenger status in the WBO rankings.
Light (20-0, 12 KO’s) has promised the upset while Okolie (18-0, 14 KO’s) is confident he can end the fight early and retain his title with a highlight-reel finish.
The event airs live and exclusively this Saturday night in the UK and Ireland on Sky Sports.
Also on the scales today were English Super-Featherweight Championship contenders Michael Gomez Jr (18-1, 5 KO’s) – son of Manchester boxing legend Michael Gomez – and Levi Giles (13-0, 3 KO’s), who face off for the vacant belt tomorrow night.
Gomez made sparks fly when the two faced off after weighing in, shoving Giles over and prompting security to intervene and separate the pair, setting the stage for a fiery showdown tomorrow night.
2020 Olympic medallists Karriss Artingstall (2-0) and Frazer Clarke (5-0, 4 KO’s) made their fights official when they stepped on the scales, Clarke getting to see his opponent for the first time as Romanian heavyweight Bogdan Dinu (20-4, 16 KO’s) arrived as late replacement for American veteran Rydell Booker, who was taken ill at the start of the week.
BOXXER promoter Ben Shalom has lauded the main event as “a serious fight, a proper world-title fight” which will test Okolie, who trains with Tyson Fury’s coach Sugar Hill Steward.
“[Light] is someone who has earned his position, not someone we have chosen and not necessarily someone we would choose for [Okolie’s] first fight after a year out, with a new trainer on a new platform,” said Shalom at yesterday’s press conference.
“We know David Light is tough, durable and can punch. We know he’s always fighting on the front foot and he’s going to stick it on Lawrence on Saturday night. There’s a lot of pressure on Lawrence to prove to everyone who he is, why we believe he’s the best cruiserweight in the world.
Today’s weigh-in results in full:
Lawrence Okolie (14st 4lbs) vs. David Light (14st 2lbs 5oz)
WBO World Cruiserweight Title (12×3)
Frazer Clarke (19st 5lbs) vs. Bogdan Dinu (17st 10lbs)
Heavyweight (8×3)
Michael Gomez Jnr (9st 4lbs) vs. Levi Giles (9st 2lbs 5oz)
Vacant English Super-Featherweight Title (10×3)
Karriss Artingstall (9st) vs. Linzi Kuczy?ski (9st 2lbs)
Featherweight (6×2)
Callum Simpson (11st 4lbs 3oz) vs. Celso Neves (12st 0lbs 5oz)
Super-Middleweight (8×3)
Rhys Edwards (9st 2lbs 5oz) vs. Brian Phillips (9st 3lbs 5oz)
Featherweight (8/6×3)
Shakiel Thompson (11st 12lbs 5oz) vs.Robert Talarek (11st 11lbs)
Middleweight (6×3)
Samiel Antwi (10st 13lbs) vs. Omar Rodriguez (10st 13lbs)
6×3 Welterweight
Frankie Stringer (9st 12lbs) vs. Jacob Laskowski (9st 11lbs)
6×3 Lightweight
Harvey Lambert (10st 13lbs) vs. Casey Brown (11st 5lbs 2oz)
Super-Welterweight (4×3)
