LAWRENCE OKOLIE VS DAVID LIGHT WORLD TITLE FIGHT CONFIRMED FOR MARCH 25 IN MANCHESTER AS CLARKE AND ARTINGSTALL RETURN

ABOUT

Lawrence ‘The Sauce’ Okolie has delivered a confident prediction ahead of his WBO world cruiserweight title defence against David Light on March 25th at the AO Arena in Manchester.

The date and venue has officially been confirmed as part of a blockbuster BOXXER fight night which will see Frazer Clarke and Karriss Artingstall all in action.

Undefeated Team GB Olympics hero Clarke (5-0, 4 KOs), who memorably won a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games, will now bid to take another scalp on his burgeoning resume when he faces off against his 6ft 5in Romanian rival.

Dinu (20-4-0, 16 KOs) was beaten by Daniel Dubois the last time he fought in England when he was stopped for the vacant WBA interim heavyweight title in June 2021.

English title fights have a deserved reputation for producing some of the most exciting contests in boxing and that tradition looks set to continue in the evening’s chief support bout when Michael Gomez Jr (18-1, 5 KO’s) and Levi Giles (13-0, 3 KO’s) enter the ring to contest the vacant English Super-Featherweight Championship.

Hotly-tipped super-middleweight prospect Callum Simpson (10-0, 8 KO’s) – the reigning Central Area champion – recently signed an exclusive promotional agreement with BOXXER. Yorkshireman Simpson trained alongside former world champion Josh Warrington when he entered the professional ranks and has stopped 80% of his opponents thus far.

Other names confirmed for the March 25th card today include Welsh featherweight Rhys Edwards (2-2), who faces Liverpool’s Brian Phillips (12-3, 3 KO’s), and the return to the BOXXER ring of welterweight Samuel ‘True Sensation’ Antwi (14-2, 6 KO’s), middleweight Aaron McKenna (15-0, 8 KO’s) and former Team GB member and Tri-Nations amateur champion Harvey Lambert (1-0), with opponents for the trio to be confirmed in the coming weeks.

RESULTS

Order and fight card subject to change

LAWRENCE OKOLIE – W

WBO World Cruiserweight Championship

DAVID LIGHT

FRAZER CLARKE – W

Heavyweight Contest

BOGDAN DINU

KARRISS ARTINGSTALL – W

Featherweight Contest

LINZI BUCZYNSKI

MICHAEL GOMEZ JR – W

ENGLISH SUPER-FEATHERWEIGHT TITLE

LEVI GILES

CALLUM SIMPSON – W

Super-Middleweight Contest

CELSO NEVES

SHAKIEL THOMPSON – W

Middleweight Contest

Robert Talarek

FRANKIE STRINGER

Middleweight Contest

JACOB LASKOWSKI

AARON MCKENNA – W

Middleweight Contest

Jordan Grant – W

SAMUEL ANTWI

Welterweight Contest

Omir Rodriguez

RHYS EDWARDS – W

Featherweight Contest

BRIAN PHILLIPS

HARVEY LAMBERT – W

Super Welterweight Contest

CASEY BROWN

View the latest bet365 odds here

VENUE, TIMES & TRAVEL

AO Arena Manchester
Victoria Station,
Manchester
M3 1AR

DOORS: 16:45PM
FIRST BOUT: 17:00PM
MAIN CARD: 19:00PM

EVENT PARTNERS

UK&I BROADCAST PARTNER

OFFICIAL BETTING PARTNER

OFFICIAL HYDRATION PARTNER

OFFICIAL PARTNER

OFFICIAL HOTEL PARTNER

February 8, 2023

MARTIN ‘THE NEXT KING OF SCOTLAND’ BAKOLE SIGNS NEW LONG-TERM DEAL WITH BOXXER

Ranked at the top by the WBA, the heavyweight sets sight on world title
BOXXER CEO & Founder Ben Shalom ‘delighted’ to sign him
Bakole, who resides in Scotland, to fight exclusively on Sky Sports

New BOXXER signing Martin Bakole has his sights set on huge heavyweight nights after he put pen to paper on a new long-term fight deal.

Ranked at the top by the WBA, the 29-year-old heavyweight, who resides in Scotland, will fight exclusively for BOXXER on Sky Sports.

His next fight will be announced in due course but Bakole – who now hails as “The Next King of Scotland” – believes he is destined for huge success.

“I’m absolutely thrilled to join BOXXER and perform on the biggest platform in Sky Sports,” he said, speaking to BOXXER.com.

“I will build on my last performance in Paris against Tony Yoka and soon become the new world heavyweight champion.”

BOXXER CEO & Founder, Ben Shalom, added: “This is a huge heavyweight signing. Martin is at the top of the WBA rankings and he is destined to deliver great things.

“We’re delighted to add him to our world class roster. He loves his life in Scotland and is training hard alongside Billy Nelson, whom we are very grateful for all his support.

“Martin comfortably defeated Olympic champion Tony Yoka away from home in his last outing. He is arguably the most avoided fighter in the entire division.

“They can all run but they can’t hide for too long, especially now he has the backing of BOXXER and Sky.”

Bakole stands at a menacing 6ft 6in and hails from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he was born a Prince to the son of the ruler of the Kananga province. Bakole is also the younger brother of the reigning and defending WBC world cruiserweight champion, Ilunga Makabu.

His record is as impressive as his stature, having won 18 professional fights including his last in May 2022 when he celebrated a majority decision victory over Tony Yoka in the Rio 2016 Olympic champion’s homeland in Paris, France.

Bakole’s only defeat was in 2018 to American heavyweight Michael Hunter. But he has responded with seven successive wins since – five of which were knockouts, including triumphs against Kevin Johnson and Mariusz Wach.

Bakole, who is now based in Airdrie, Scotland, will discover news of his next opponent very soon.