Lawrence Okolie makes third defence of WBO belt

Lawrence Okolie from Hackney, London, makes the third defence of his WBO cruiserweight belt when he meets mandatory challenger David Light of New Zealand at the AO Arena in Manchester, England, on Saturday night.

The 30-year-old Okolie (18-0; 14) won the belt in 2021 with a win over Krzysztof Glowacki and has made successful defences against Dilan Prasovic (ko 3) and Michael Cieslak (ud 12).

According to the British Boxing News, which was first published in 1909, he is listed at No 3 in their world ratings, and the little known Light (20-0; 12) comes in as a 5-to-1 underdog.

Jai Opetaia is at No 1 and Mairus Breidis is at No 2 in the ratings.

Light, 31, was a good amateur, winning a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games, and is coming off a closely fought win over Brandon Glanton three months ago for the WBO Global and International cruiserweight titles.

One must favour Okolie after being out for a long time with promotional problems as he needs to win in style.

The other main organisation cruiserweight champions are Arsen Goulamirian (WBA), Jai Opetaia (IBF), and Badou Jack (WBC).

On the undercard Michael Gomez Jr meets Levi Giles in a matchup for the vacant English junior lightweight title.