Lawrence Okolie once again has a “world title” around his waist after flooring WBC “bridgerweight” champion Lukasz Rozanski three times en route to a first-round finish.
Okolie (20-1, 15 KO), nearly a year to the day after falling to Chris Billam-Smith, put Rozanski (15-1, 14 KO) down with his signature straight right inside of two minutes. A 1-2 scored the second knockdown, after which Okolie sealed the deal with a gnarly uppercut against the ropes.
3️⃣ knockdowns scored!
And it’s all over! @Lawrence_tko scores the FIRST Round finish #RozanskiOkolie | Now | Podpromie Arena | @SkySportsBoxing pic.twitter.com/ghOEz8LmXI
— BOXXER (@boxxer) May 24, 2024
I wouldn’t call that enough data to say whether Okolie is back to the peak form that saw him dismantle Krzusztof Glowacki before subsequently regressing to the big huggy bear of old, but at least we know the power is still there. Hopefully he’ll be satisfied with this win and move back to a weight class with actual opposition.
As for Rozanski, it turns out beating Alen Babjc isn’t sufficient preparation for the world stage.