Lawrence Okolie retains WBO cruiserweight title with victory over Michal Cieslak
Okolie raced out of the blocks with a thunderous opening round before sending his opponent to the floor in the fifth.
Lawrence Okolie retained his WBO cruiserweight title with a comfortable, if not spectacular, unanimous points decision win over Michal Cieslak in London.
Okolie raced out of the blocks with a thunderous opening round before sending his opponent to the floor in the fifth.
But Cieslak, supported by a large Polish contingent inside the O2 Arena, survived the early onslaught to take the fight to the distance.
The judges scored the bout 117-110, 116-111, 115-112 in favour of Okolie.
“It was quite a flat performance,” Okolie told BBC Radio 5 Live. “My fitness was good but I allowed it to get messy.
“I will go back to the gym, go again and make it right the next time.”
Asked about his next fight, Okolie added: “I will probably have one at heavyweight and then come back down (to cruiserweight) for a unification.”
The 29-year-old Yafai, who won Olympic flyweight gold for Great Britain at last summer’s Tokyo Olympics, delivered a composed and authoritative display to force his opponent’s corner to throw in the towel.
Campbell Hatton, son of Ricky Hatton, won his sixth professional fight with a sixth-round stoppage of Joe Ducker.
