IT IS a double debut for Lawrence Okolie on Saturday night as he boxes under the Queensberry banner for the first time but also steps up for his maiden bow at heavyweight.
The Sauce has come under fire in the past for some lacklustre performances, but when he got it right he was one of the most explosive cruiserweights on the planet – and now he plans to make a similar splash beyond 200lbs.
And, ahead of Saturday’s clash with 18-1 Hussein Muhamed, we take a look at the top three wins of Okolie’s career so far.
V KRZYSZTOF GLOWACKI, 20.3.2021, Wembley Arena – KO 6
In only the 16th fight of his career, Okolie took on the experienced former world cruiserweight champion Glowacki in a Covid bubble at Wembley Arena. The Polish southpaw was expected to give Okolie the biggest test of his career but it seemed that nobody had told the Hackney man, who dominated almost every second of the fight behind a long jab before he found the finish. And it was a good one too, with a devastating right hand leaving him flat on his back after 46 seconds of the sixth.
V LUKASZ ROZANSKI, 24.5.2024, Hala Na Podpromiu – TKO 1
Another Polish opponent in a world title fight, another devastating knockout. This time, up at bridgerweight, Okolie needed just 175 seconds to despatch Lukasz Rozanski, who was completely out of his depth from the opening bell. In his first fight since losing his world title to Chris Billam-Smith, and his first above the cruiserweight limit, Okolie wasted no time in setting about home favourite Rozanski, who was roared on by a noisy crowd. But they were soon silenced as Rozanski was dropped within two minutes of the opening bell by a counter right hand. He got to his feet but he was down again 20 seconds later, then when an uppercut put him over for the third time the referee waved it off.
V YVES NGABU, 26.10.2019 – o2 Arena – TKO 7
Okolie had already won British and Commonwealth titles by the time he faced the 20-0 Yves Ngabu for the European title at the o2 Arena. Many had tipped Belgium’s undefeated ‘Smiling Assassin’ to upset Okolie and leave London with the title and he did his best to rough the Brit up. It had been a scrappy affair between the tall Okolie and the shorter, stockier Ngabu but the Sauce started to find his range in the middle rounds. And, almost as soon as he did, the fight was over when a left hook, right hand combination sent Ngabu wheeling back to the ropes convincing referee Jean Robert Laine to jump in. Not pretty, but effective.
