At the Wembley Arena, Wembley, UK, Matchroom Boxing – Eddie Hearn, presented No. 2 ranked 2016 Olympian, WBO Int’l and EBU champion Lawrence “The Sauce” Okolie knocked out the former two-time WBO World champion No. 1 ranked Krzysztof “Glowka” Glowacki in the sixth round for the vacant World WBO Cruiserweight title Saturday over DAZN.
In the Main Event WBO No. 2 ranked Lawrence “The Sauce” Okolie, 16-0 (13), #199 1/4, of Hackney, London, UK, knocked out the former two-time WBO World champion No. 1 ranked southpaw Krzysztof “Glowka” Glowacki, 31-3 (19), #195 3/4, of Walcz, Poland, at 0:46 of the sixth round for the vacant World WBO Cruiserweight title.
In the first five rounds the taller by 5” Okolie kept the southpaw former champion at the end of a jab for the most part. In the sixth round Okolie landed a right cross after a jab on the chin of Glowacki and down he went for the count.
“I was sure I would eventually get him. I want to thank my family for their support, my promoter Eddie Hearn. This was an answer to prayers,” said Okolie. “This young man came from working at a McDonalds and overweight at age 12 to overcome all odds to win the world title. I look for him to unify those titles at cruiserweight and move up to heavyweight,” said Eddie Hearn.
Cruiserweight Chris “The Gentleman” Billam-Smith, 12-1 (10), #199, of Bournemouth, Dorset, UK, defeated Vasil Ducar, 9-4-1 (8), #198 1/2, of Brno, Czech Republic, for vacant WBA Continental Cruiser title, scoring a pair of knockdowns over good 10 rounds.
“We knew it would be a tough fight. I had him down twice and thought I could get him out of there but he came right back,” said Billam-Smith.
In the second round Ducar rocked Billam-Smith with a right to the chin halfway through the round. In the fourth round a 3 punch combination to the chin from Billam-Smith in the final seconds dropped Ducar for an 8 count. In the sixth round a combination from Billam-Smith on the chin dropped Ducar for an 8 count in the final minute.
In the ninth round Ducar came back holding his own. In the tenth and final round with much swelling under his left eye Ducar went for a knockout being behind and knocked the mouthpiece of Billam-Smith in the final seconds with a right on the chin.
Scores were 99-90 twice and 97-92 with this writers score 96-92.
Super Welterweight Anthony “The Machine” Fowler, 14-1 (11), #153 3/4, of Liverpool, Merseyside, UK, knocked out Jorge Fortea, 21-3-1 (7), #152 1/2, of Sueca, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain, for the WBA International title, at 3:08 of the third in a scheduled 10.
In the third round Fowler scored two knockdowns as the round ended with the referee counting out Fortea at 3:08.
Coming back after a 14 month of inactivity Super Featherweight Joe Cordina, 12-1 (7), #132 1/4, of Cardiff, Wales, UK, took a majority decision over Faroukh Kourbanov, 17-3 (3), #130 1/2, of Kyrg and Dison, Liege, Belgium, over ten action rounds.
From the first round Cordina had his way outworking Kourbanov through the first seven rounds. In the eighth round Kourbanov had his best round of the fight. In the tenth and final round it was very spirited with Cordina taking the win.
Scores were 96-96, 98-93 and 96-95 with this writer 97-93.
Featherweight Ramla Ali, 2-0 (0), #126 1/4, of Somalia and London, UK, defeated Bec “Lady Luck” Connolly, 3-9 (0), #126 1/4 of Swindon, Wiltshire, UK, over 6 rounds.
In the third round Ali landed a flurry of punches having Connolly in trouble by the end of the round. In the sixth and final round Ali used an effective jab to take the round.
Score 60-55 by referee Bob Williams.
Super Bantam Ellie Scotney, 2-0 (0), #122 3/4 of London, UK, defeated Mailys Gangloff, 4-2 (1), #118 ¾, of Aix-les-Bains-Savoie, France, over 6 good rounds.
In the first round it was all action with Gangloff having an edge. In the remaining rounds it was competitive as Scotney countered the oncoming Gangloff.
Score was 59-55