Lawrence Okolie, 29, (17-0, 9 KOs) will make his second WBO heavyweight title defense on February 27 in London at Matchroom Boxing against former WBC title contender Michal Cieslak (21-1, 15 KOs) from Poland. Okoli won the title by knocking out Krzysztof Glowacki in the sixth round last March, and made his first defense by knocking out Dylan Prasovic in the third round.
There was talk that Okoli would face IBF champion Mairis Briedis in a unification fight, but the Latvian was obliged to fight the mandatory challenger Jai Opetaia.
For Cieslak, this will be the second chance in his career to become a champion. In January 2020, the Pole lost on points to Ilunga Makabu in a fight for the WBC belt.
It is possible that within the framework of this evening there will also be a fight between Arsen Gyulamiryan (26-0, 18 KOs) and Evgeny Egorov (11-0, 7 KOs) for the WBA heavyweight belt, which was originally supposed to take place in early December in Russia , but the fight was postponed due to the poor health of the Armenian. The winners of both fights can hold a unification meeting this spring or summer.
