BoxRec

Lawrence Okolie Return, Goulamirian-Egorov As Co-Feature: Eyed For Feb. 27

Boxing has 17 weight classes and just seven of them currently don’t have a unified champion.

Matchroom Boxing head Eddie Hearn is further looking to unify titles at cruiserweight with the best fighter he promotes in the division via Lawrence Okolie.

“He became a world champion [earlier this year], defended [the belt]. Now he will defend it again Feb. 27. We want a unification fight,” Hearn told IFL. “On that card may also be [Arsen] vs. [Aleksei] Egorov. So the winners fight the winners there. It's time for [Okolie] to unify, but we have to keep him active at the same time.”

Hearn did not indicate an opponent for Okolie or a location for the bout, but it would likely take place in the United Kingdom, where the British boxer has been a draw exclusively since turning pro in 2017.

The 29-year-old Okolie (17-0, 14 KOs) won the vacant WBO cruiserweight crown in May with a sixth-round knockout against Krzysztof Glowacki. In September, he defended the title for the first time with a third-round KO against then-undefeated Dilan Prasovic.

The WBA champion Goulamirian (26-0, 18 KOs), an Armenian who’s primarily fought in France, still has to fulfill the mandatory defense of his title against Russian Egorov (11-0, 7 KOs).

The fight between power punchers was originally scheduled to take place on Dec. 10 but Goulamirian contracted COVID-19 right before the bout, and the fight was scrapped. Russia’s World of Boxing had secured the rights to the fight in August as the lone bidder with a winning claim of $210,000.

Goulamirian and Egorov will surely both have to fight off the ring rust should they eventually square up as a potential warm-up act for Okolie. Neither fighter has fought since COVID-19 seriously halted sports starting in mid-March 2020.

Two cruiserweight bouts on the card.

They should hopefully announce it sooner rather than later.

As of today on WBO website:

Obviously things can change.

CHAMPION LAWRENCE OKOLIE UK
1 Murat Gassiev RUS
2 Thabiso Mchunu SA
3 Michal Cieslak POL
4 Mateusz Masternak POL
5 Juergen Uldedaj ALB
6 Chris Billam-Smith UK
7 Badou Jack SWD
8 Aleksai Papin RUS
9 Jai Opetaia AUST
10 Roman Fress (Int-Cont) KAZ
11 Richard Riakporhe UK
12 Tervel Pulev BUL
13 Enrico Koelling (WBO Europe) GER
14 Anthony Martinez (Latino) USA
15 David Light NZ
** Kamshybek Kunkabayer (Asia-Pacific) KAZ

cant wait for the great Juergen Uldedaj to make his challenge

Why is gassiev still in those rankings. It would be a treat to see him in with okolie, but last time i saw him he was closer to 200kgs than 200lbs.

Richard Riakporhe or billiam smith would be decent if crowds are back.

gregregegg wrote: ↑29 Dec 2021, 06:31 Why is gassiev still in those rankings. It would be a treat to see him in with okolie, but last time i saw him he was closer to 200kgs than 200lbs.

Richard Riakporhe or billiam smith would be decent if crowds are back.

No idea.

Has he actually had his HW debut yet?

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑29 Dec 2021, 06:33

gregregegg wrote: ↑29 Dec 2021, 06:31 Why is gassiev still in those rankings. It would be a treat to see him in with okolie, but last time i saw him he was closer to 200kgs than 200lbs.

Richard Riakporhe or billiam smith would be decent if crowds are back.

No idea.

Has he actually had his HW debut yet?

Bashed the tubbier seferi over a year ago. And wallich this year.

He was given an easy opponent in Prasovic. It need to be a genuine defence. It shouldn’t be unification or bum.

Dioufy wrote: ↑29 Dec 2021, 08:05 He was given an easy opponent in Prasovic. It need to be a genuine defence. It shouldn’t be unification or bum.

Wouldn't mind Enrico Koelling

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑29 Dec 2021, 08:09

Dioufy wrote: ↑29 Dec 2021, 08:05 He was given an easy opponent in Prasovic. It need to be a genuine defence. It shouldn’t be unification or bum.

Wouldn't mind Enrico Koelling

I would. This is a guy who lost multiple times at light heavy.
Masternek would be

1 Murat Gassiev RUS not coming back to CW I guess

2 Thabiso Mchunu SA fighting Makabu in January

3 Michal Cieslak POL good size and experience. Should be a decent challenger.

4 Mateusz Masternak POL solid and experienced but has lost every time he has stepped up to the very top level. Will be outsized hugely by Okolie as he turned pro at 175lb but should be competitive fight .

5 Juergen Uldedaj ALB very padded record of 14-0 so hard to judge. Hasn’t fought anyone of note and seems like a non puncher and undersized at 6’1. What I would call a FRWarren WBO special.. the kind of guy we used to see come over and challenge Calzaghe & Johnny Nelson


6 Chris Billam-Smith UK stablemate do won’t happen

7 Badou Jack SWD experienced and talented but old and small. Basically just a name now at cruiserweight?

8 Aleksai Papin RUS strong with plenty of KOs on his resume. Lost close one to Makabu. Not a product of the Russian amateur system as he was a kick-boxer previously. Only 6’1

9 Jai Opetaia AUST went to 2012 Olympics . Unknown quantity really as he has fought down under largely. Logistic nightmare for him to get to Europe at the moment I guess so unlikely choice

10 Roman Fress (Int-Cont) KAZ another unknown quantity really. German based. Yet to step up . Poor choice opponent

11 Richard Riakporhe UK definitely the biggest selling fight for Okolie out of the WBO list. Whilst not technically top level, he brings a size and length Okolie hasn’t seen as a pro. Plus it’s an all London affair. I guess RR would want big money and Eddie won’t want to pay him that much

12 Tervel Pulev BUL ancient . Top amateur but never bothered stepping up. I assume he isn’t too serious about his boxing career

13 Enrico Koelling (WBO Europe) GER
14 Anthony Martinez (Latino) USA
15 David Light NZ

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑29 Dec 2021, 08:09

Dioufy wrote: ↑29 Dec 2021, 08:05 He was given an easy opponent in Prasovic. It need to be a genuine defence. It shouldn’t be unification or bum.

Wouldn't mind Enrico Koelling

say waa? a total non puncher and career light heavy who couldnt beat anyone of note but lost to leon bunn, mirco ricci, and dom boesel? the stoppage loss to bert was no shame but he lost every round and was way out of his depth. he'd be weaaaak

id be cool with a lot of guys on the list though. obviously some of them like gassiev or mchunu are unlikely to happen. but the 2 poles, cieslak or masternak would be cool. cieslak id rather have

goulmarian - egorov would be a very nice fight btw

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑29 Dec 2021, 09:07 goulmarian - egorov would be a very nice fight btw

As long as the winners fight each other.

They’ll end up sneaking someone into the top 15 and it will end up beating a crap fight

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑29 Dec 2021, 09:27 They’ll end up sneaking someone into the top 15 and it will end up beating a crap fight

Most likely .
The two Polish guys and RR are the only available , credible and practical opponents in my opinion. Anyone else will be a disappointment.

Is this the first DAZN show announced for 2022 ? Undercard will be the Romford Bull v TBA and half a dozen women's fights

tony1234 wrote: ↑29 Dec 2021, 12:10 Is this the first DAZN show announced for 2022 ? Undercard will be the Romford Bull v TBA and half a dozen women's fights

Probably will be the first DAZN show.

Hopefully we get an opponent sooner rather than later

Wow. they chose #3 ranked

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑07 Jan 2022, 12:54 Wow. they chose #3 ranked

The highest ranked available guy ! With the two southern Africans fighting soon, this is probably the best non unification fight.

Why no Dorticos In WBO rankings ??

Decent defence.

Lawrence Okolie vs. Michal Cieslak on February 27

Lawrence Okolie will also make the second defense of his WBO cruiserweight title on February 27 in London against former WBC title challenger Michal Cieslak, from Poland.

Okolie won the title by knocking out Krzysztof Glowacki in six rounds in March last year and made his first defense when he knocked out Dilan Prasovic in three rounds in September.

There has been talk of Okolie facing Mairis Briedis, the IBF champion, in a unification fight but the Latvian has been ordered to face his mandatory contender, Jai Opetaia.

As reported earlier on Boxing Scene, Leigh Wood will get home advantage when he makes his first defense of the WBA featherweight title against Michael Conlan in Nottingham on March 12.

Wood won the title when he dominated Can Xu on the opening night of Eddie Hearn’s Fight Camp in Brentwood in July. The Nottingham fighter

He had been ordered to defend the belt against Conlan, after the unbeaten Irishman beat TJ Doheny in Belfast to claim the WBA’s interim belt just six days after Wood’s win over Xu. The WBA has since pledged to do away with interim titles, installing all the interim champions as No 1 contenders.

There had been initial thoughts that the fight would end up on St Patrick’s Day weekend in New York or Belfast. But Conlan, 30, let the cat out of the bag about the venue just before Christmas when he told Irish News: “Wood didn’t fancy Belfast and Ben Davison (his coach) didn’t fancy Belfast, so we’ll bring Belfast to them. I’m happily going to their town and I’ll be ripping the belt off them.”

It will be the first world title fight at Nottingham Arena since Carl Froch beat Yusuf Mack in 2012, when Wood boxed on the undercard. The last time the venue staged boxing, in 2019, Wood knocked out Ryan Doyle in defence of the Commonwealth title.

Wood, 33, had been handpicked as an opponent by Xu’s promoter, Golden Boy, but he dominated the Chinese boxer, winning nearly every round before forcing the stoppage 17 seconds before the final bell.

I don’t think I ever saw it, but boxrec fan scoring says Cieslak had a strong argument to say he beat makabu. Could easily be 27-0 WBC world champ.