British boxer Lawrence Okolie – who is of Nigerian descent – will be aiming to secure his first world boxing title when he faces Poland’s Krzystof Glowacki for the vacant WBO cruiserweight title on 12 December 2020 at The O2 Arena in London, with the clash serving on the undercard for Anthony Joshua’s showdown with Kubrat Pulev.
The 27-year-old, who was born in Hackney, London, holds a 14-0 (11 KO) record in his professional career thus far, with his last match a seventh-round TKO win over Belgian Yves Ngabu in October 2019 – a victory which secured him the European cruiserweight title.
Okolie admits it will be “different” fighting the southpaw Glowacki, but believes if he can get himself into the right positions after “a couple of rounds” it will be “the beginning of the end” for the Pole, who is a former two-time WBO champion in the division.
The British-Nigerian’s long-term plans include a potential mega-fight with IBF and WBSS champion Mairis Briedis, who controversially defeated Glowacki in June last year.
“In my ideal world, I see a World Boxing Super Series-type thing without it being in the tournament,” Okolie explained. “I win this fight then I go for a unification with either the WBA or WBC champion, then maybe Briedis has another one and there’s all four belts up.
“I’ve got two, he’s got two, then we have a unification. Briedis has his own life, I don’t know him, if he wants to move up to heavyweight, go into acting, I don’t know, but, for me, I want to unify the belts. Briedis got it done [beating Glowacki] in two rounds but it was a very controversial one. I do expect to stop him.”
Even with support from his high-profile mentor, Anthony Joshua, Okolie remains calm and “standard” without seeming fazed by his biggest fight to date. Okolie would like to defeat Briedis, before eventually making the “ideal step up” to the newly designed 18th weight class, proposed by the WBC, that will sit between cruiserweight and the new heavyweight division, at 224lbs [101.6kg].
