Michał Cieślak did not surprise. Lawrence Okolie is still the champion

See the live report of the fight Lawrence Okolie – Michał Cieślak

For Cieślak it was the second fight for the world championship. In January 2020, he lost to Ilunga Makabu in the fight for the WBC belt in Kinshasa. Now he had to fight again on the territory of his rival, in London.

However, Cieślak could feel at home. He came to London with a huge support group. Already during the weigh-in, the fans of the Pole were tearing their throats, and during the fight they made themselves felt even more.

Cieślak started boldly, but in the first round he took a strong blow with his right hand. The legs buckled under the Pole. He wasn’t on the boards just because he got into a clinch, grabbing and holding on to an opponent.

Okolie fought very nervously in the following rounds. The duel became even and Cieślak was able to respond, and the boxer with Nigerian roots shortened the distance and clinched in difficult moments.

He had a very simple plan around. He hunted the right hook, which hit the Pole in the first round. In the fifth clash, the Brit was successful again, and this time nothing saved the Pole from the knockout.

This made Okolie feel confident. His advantage began to grow. Cieślak accepted a lot, but he was also able to give back strongly. Although there were a lot of dirty licks on both sides, the duel was watched very well at times. It was very exciting.

Ultimately, however, Okolie won fully deservedly. Three judges, including Leszek Jankowiak, a Pole, unanimously scored the Briton’s victory. The scoring was as follows: 117-110, 116-111, 115-112.

Okolie thus defended the WBO world title in junior heavyweight. Cieślak was the fourth Pole to lose to the British in his career. He was the only one to survive until the end of the duel. Earlier, Okolie had knocked out Łukasz Rusiewicz, Nikodem Jeżewski and Krzysztof Głowacki.

Łukasz Maciec also fought at the same gala. However, he did not come as a surprise and lost to Anthony Fowler.

The Pole, however, fought very ambitiously. At the beginning of the fight he hit his opponent hard several times, but at the distance of ten rounds the judges scored a decisive victory for the Englishman.

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