Lawrence Okolie vs. Krzysztof Glowacki: Okolie wins his first world title in emphatic fashion
Lawrence Okolie proved his credentials on Saturday, knocking out former titleholder Krzysztof Glowacki to claim the vacant WBO cruiserweight title at the SSE Arena, Wembley.
London’s Okolie, who moves to 16-0 (13 KOs) with his maiden world title win, had been written off by many as a difficult fighter to watch but put on a mesmerising, inch-perfect show against his toughest opponent to date.
Poland’s Glowacki, who held the WBO belt until his last fight in 2019 when he was controversially dethroned by Mairis Briedis before the sanctioning body opted to vacate the title, struggled to throw anything at all in the first three rounds as Okolie demonstrated an excellent jab to put his superior reach to full use.
In round four, Okolie turned up the heat and connected with a number of powerful shots that drastically altered the 34-year-old’s body language as Glowacki realised he was in for a tough night’s work if he was to earn redemption for the nature of his title loss.
And in the early stages of the sixth, Okolie connected with a flush one-two, punctuated by a devastating right as Glowacki came in with his head down. The veteran looked unlikely to answer the count, and when he did return to his feet at eight, he staggered to his corner instead of towards the referee, who completed his journey to ‘10’'.
In his dozen-and-a-quarter professional outings, Okolie has now won the British, Commonwealth, European and a world cruiserweight title. He said after the highlight of his career that he has only just begun.
“Obviously I’m happy,” explained Okolie. “I feel blessed. I was really calm throughout the week. It’s amazing to be able to put an exclamation mark on my life with a world title. Anything you want in life, if you believe, you can do it.
“I have to thank Shane for the gameplan. I was sure I would get to him, but Shane reminded me not to rush. I said I’d get it done between rounds five and eight.
“Four or five years ago, Eddie Hearn saw a boy from Hackney and said ‘if you win a world title, I’ll buy you a gold Rolex Sky Dweller’. Now I want my Sky Dweller. And he said I’d get another one if I unify, too!”
Matchroom promoter Hearn will be close to £40,000 out of pocket when he delivers Okolie his well-deserved Rolex, but was nonetheless over the moon with the nature of his charge’s victory.
“That was one of the great performances to win a world title,” beamed Hearn. “Glowacki is a former two-time champ and a top five cruiserweight in the world. Lawrence has had some stick but he’s stepped in there with 15 fights to his name and put on a masterclass.
“We don’t want to muck around. We want to unify the division then move up to heavyweight.”
Okolie vs. Glowacki undercard results
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Lawrence Okolie vs Krzysztof Glowacki LIVE! Fight result, latest news and boxing reaction after knockout
Hearn: Okolie is an inspiration
“He’s got scary power, but he used to be all power,” Hearn added. “Now he’s got the jab, he’s got the movement, he’s got the knowledge.
“Shane has done a tremendous job. Just while we are here, let’s put it into perspective. Not so long ago, he was a young man, in McDonald’s, working at Victoria Station, he was overweight, didn’t know where he was going.
“In 2012, he watched Usain Bolt and Anthony Joshua win gold at the London Olympics. They inspired him to try and change his life.
“He left that job, he chased his dream in boxing, he got to his own Olympics in Rio and then he won the British, the Commonwealth, the European championship. Tonight he wins the world championship.
“This is just an incredible story. It sounds like a story I’d make up, but this is a true story. This is a real inspiration to young kids today.
“Like he said, if you believe in yourself, you can do it. Shout out to Anthony Joshua, 258, they’ve got their first world champion themselves.