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Lawrence Okolie retains WBO cruiserweight title against David Light.
British professional boxer of Nigerian descent Lawrence Okolie retained the WBO cruiserweight title in the early hours of Sunday, March 26, 2023.
The 30-year-old Okolie took on New Zealand professional boxer David Light at the AO Arena in Manchester, England.
With the crowd cheering, Okolie recovered from some bad rounds to record a decision victory against Light.
Lawrence Okolie retains the WBO cruiserweight title against David Light
After more than a year out, Okolie returned to action with SugarHill Steward in his corner as a new trainer.
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Okolie has teased moving up to the heavyweight division and the fight against Light served as a warning to all contenders in the cruiserweight division.
Against Light a mandatory challenger, Okolie started off by taking command of the ring in the early rounds.
Okolie established the jab to the body, using his height advantage against the shorter New Zealander.
There were sudden explosive bursts after combination jabs to attack Light to the corner on several instances.
Light in the ninth round pressed forward and was able to clip Okolie and asked questions of the champion.
Okolie held on in the final rounds to and had a point deducted for holding as the fight came to an end.
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Okolie calls out cruiserweight challengers
Following a pulsating 12 rounds, the fight would be decided by three judges.
Okolie won the fight via unanimous decision as the Judges scored 116-112, 119-108, and 117-110 in favor of the champion.
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Speaking after the fight, Okolie called out all doubters in the cruiserweight division.
He said, "David Light was extremely tough and he had a good tactic of moving around to his right.
"But, at the end of the day, there's no need to make excuses - just get better.
"I just couldn't get the last shot to drop him and get him out of there because he was very tough and very good with his hand defenses."
Okolie will now aim to follow in the footsteps of Ukrainian professional boxer Oleksandr Usyk.
Usyk became undisputed at the cruiserweight level before moving up to the heavyweight division to become the unified champion.
Okolie has been tipped to fight British professional boxer of Nigerian descent Dan Azeez next.
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