Lawrence Okolie stops Krzysztof Glowacki for WBO title (Video)

England’s Lawrence Okolie knocked out Krzysztof Glowacki in round 6 to become the WBO cruiserweight champion in an impressive display.

Lawrence Okolie realized a dream on Saturday, March 20, by defeating Krzysztof Glowacki to become the new WBO cruiserweight champion.

Okolie (16-0, 13 KOs) kept his perfect record intact, knocking out Glowacki in round 6 at the SSE Arena in London. Okolie had an easy time with the 34-year-old Glowacki to become a world champion for the first time.

Okolie and Glowacki were supposed to meet in December of 2020, but Glowacki tested positive for COVID-19 days before the fight. Nikodem Jezewski was brought in as a last-minute replacement, but the WBO title wasn’t on the line. Okolie defeated Jezewski by round 2 TKO.

Okolie had to go through Glowacki for the WBO belt. Glowacki (31-3, 19 KOs) was stopped in round 3 in his last contest against Mairis Briedis in June of 2019 in an extremely dirty and controversial fight.

Briedis purposely elbowed Glowacki in round 2 with an elbow that made Glowacki drop to the canvas in pain. Briedis was deducted a point, but Glowacki was knocked down shortly after.

Glowacki beat the count and made it through the round, but referee Robert Byrd didn’t hear the bell and let the fight continue until Glowacki was dropped again. The fight made it to round 3, but Glowacki was severely damaged and was stopped by Briedis.

Lawrence Okolie was a 2016 Olympian for England and is now a world champion as a professional.

Briedis was ordered by the WBO to fight Glowacki in a rematch but refused and was stripped of the belt. Okolie vs. Glowacki was mandated to fill the vacant title.

Glowacki’s luck in boxing didn’t get any better against Okolie, but at least this time, he lost fair and square. He was never in the fight against Okolie. Okolie utilized his long reach to land his right hand against the southpaw Glowacki all night.

Those right hands took a toll on Glowacki. He was cut in round 5 over his right, which was also very swollen. In round 6, Okolie caught Glowacki with a right hook 32 seconds into the round. Glowacki hit the canvas hard and stayed down for a while. He got to his feet but stumbled into the corner. The fight was over.

https://twitter.com/DAZNBoxing/status/1373410823419404288?s=20

Okolie has made a steady run at his first world title. He beat Luke Watkins in 2018 by TKO to win the Commonwealth title. Okolie then defeated Matty Askin later that year for the BBBofC British cruiserweight title.

Okolie added the EBU European title to his collection by stopping Yves Ngabu in 2019 and now has a world title for his efforts. The cruiserweight division is wide open, with a different boxer holding each of the four major world titles. Okolie might be the most talented of them all.