Lawrence Okolie has a confirmed fight date for his dance with destiny.
The long-ago ordered vacant WBO cruiserweight title fight between Okolie and Poland’s Krzysztof Glowacki will land on March 20 at a United Kingdom venue to be determined.
The bout has been more than a year in the making, with previous efforts thwarted due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The official announcement—made on Jan. 15th—came one month after the fight was originally due to take place on Dec. 12th at SSE Arena, Wembley.
Poland’s Glowacki was a late medical scratch after having tested positive for COVID-19, with his countryman Nikodem Jezewski stepping as a last-minute replacement which allowed Okolie to preserve the date.
Okolie (15-0, 12KOs) went on to score a 2nd round knockout in their non-title fight, with his sights once again set on a showdown with Glowacki, a former two-time titlist from Walcz, Poland.
“The world title is mine,” Okolie exclaimed. “March 20, I will mark my name in the history books with a win.”
The bout was first ordered in Dec. 2019, immediately after the title was declared vacant by the WBO during its 2019 annual convention in Tokyo.
The belt was previously held by Mairis Briedis, who scored a controversial 3rd round stoppage of Glowacki in their June 2019 World Boxing Super Series semi final bout.
Glowacki (31-2, 18KOs) successfully appealed for the right to an immediate rematch, with Brieidis instead opting to move forward in the tournament at the expense of being stripped of the WBO title.
Briedis went on to face Yuniel Dorticos in the WBSS finale, scoring a 12-round decision last September.
Meanwhile, a Glowacki-Okolie pairing has seen several delays—mostly due to the coronavirus pandemic and specifically one occasion where Glowacki was physically impacted by the infectious disease.
The bout will mark the first for Glowacki since his aforementioned tainted loss to Briedis, which ended his second title reign.
The 34-year old Polish southpaw entered his first reign following an 11th round knockout of Marco Huck in their Aug. 2015 epic war.
Huck was left to share the all-time mark with Johnny Nelson for most consecutive successful defenses, while Glowacki enjoyed just a 13-month reign before losing to Oleksandr Usyk in Sept. 2016.
Okolie will enter his first career title fight, a move he was clearly ready to make happen more than a year ago.
A member of the 2016 Great Britain Olympic boxing team which competed in Rio, the 28-year old quickly rose through the ranks upon turning pro in 2017.
Wins over unbeaten Isaac Chamberlain and Luke Watkins paved the way for a breakout campaign in 2019, scoring four knockout victories in as many fights.
Included among the lot was a 7th round stoppage of Yves Ngabu, an unbeaten and perennial Top-10 contender at the time of their Oct. 2019 EBU cruiserweight title clash.
Source: Boxing Scene
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