Purse bids called for Lawrence Okolie vs David Light
WBO cruiser champ Okolie faces unbeaten challenger in his next title defence
Undefeated New Zealander David Light (20-0, 12KO) will be WBO World cruiserweight champ Lawrence Okolie (18-0, 14KO) next challenger, according to the World Boxing Organization.
Purse bids were ordered this week, to be conducted on Wednesday, December 14, 2022, at 9sm (Eastern Time) in the WBO main offices located in Puerto Rico.
The WBO officially stated: Following compliance with his mandatory defense against Prasovic, Okolie fought world-rated contender Michal Cieslak on February 27, 2022, at the O2 Arena, Greenwich, London, United Kingdom. Okolie won via unanimous decision (UD). Since the latter bout, Okolie has not defended his title nor is scheduled to defend it against a world-rated contender determined and approved by the WBO World Championship Committee.
Furthermore, per WBO Regulations of World Championship Contests, the time provided for compulsory title defenses has transpired as 283 days have elapsed (9 months and 10 days) exceeding the applicable time provision. Therefore, Okolie’s mandatory title defense is overdue.
Conversely, on December 2, 2022, number six (6) world-rated WBO Jr. Heavyweight contender David Light fought number seven (7) world-rated counterpart Brandon Glanton. Both fighters defended their respective WBO Regional Championship Titles in a highly competitive bout. After ten (10) hard-fought rounds, the fight was ruled a split decision (SD) in favor of David Light.
As a result of David Light’s victory and per our governing rules and regulations, this Committee determined and selected the aforementioned participant as Okolie’s Mandatory Challenger. Accordingly, on December 5, 2022, this Committee ordered Team Okolie and Team Light to begin negotiations granting the parties 20 days to reach an agreement or purse bid proceedings would be called per WBO Regulations.
This will be welcome news 29-year-old Londoner Lawrence, who has one fight left on his contract with Matchroom Boxing, who he will be looking to severe ties with in the New Year after his relationship with promoter Eddie Hearn publicly broke down. Okolie posted many rants on his social media platforms very recently, displaying his dicontent with his promotional stable.
Bio
Lawrence Okolie
WBO World Cruiserweight Champion
From: Hackney, London
Alias: 'The Sauce'
Age: 29
Height: 6′ 5″ / 196cm
Reach: 82½″ / 210cm
Debut: 2017-04-15
Bouts: 18
Rounds: 84
KO Ratio: 77.78%
David Light
WBO World Cruiserweight Global Champion
From: North Shore, New Zealand
Alias: 'The Great White'
Age: 31
Height: 6′ 1½″ / 187cm
Debut: 2017-11-18
Bouts: 20
Rounds: 85
KO Ratio: 60%
