Lawrence Okolie vs David Light takes place Saturday, March 25 and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK and Republic of Ireland.
A thrilling English championship bout, two Olympians and the promotional debut of an exciting super-middleweight prospect have today been announced for the undercard of the BOXXER Fight Night: Manchester event taking place Saturday March 25 at the AO Arena.
Headlined by Lawrence Okolie (18-0, 14 KO’s) defending his WBO World Cruiserweight Championship against undefeated, 2014 Commonwealth Games silver medallist David Light (20-0, 12 KO’s), today’s announcements revealed a March card packed with quality from top to bottom.
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.
WHAT TIME IS OKOLIE VS. LIGHT?
- Date: Saturday, March 25
- Start time: 7 p.m. GMT / 3 p.m. ET
- Sky Sports will broadcast the fight in the UK
- Main event ringwalks (approx): 10 p.m. GMT / 6 p.m. ET
- The fight takes place at the AO Arena in Manchester, England.
- The event is set to get underway at 7 p.m. GMT / 3 p.m. ET with the main event ringwalks scheduled for 10 p.m. GMT / 6 p.m. ET. T
Michael Gomez Sr was a firm favourite of fight fans in his home city of Manchester thanks to his all-action, no-nonsense fighting style. His son Gomez Jr – the current Central Area Super-Featherweight title holder – is continuing the family business and will have the Manchester Arena crowd behind him for his English title tilt.
Manchester’s storied arena played host to many a Gomez Sr bout and also hosted Gomez Jr’s professional debut in 2014, making it a fitting scene for his bout against the undefeated Grimsby man Giles, who is taking the first title shot of his career in this ten-round contest.
Hard-hitting heavyweight prospect Frazer ‘Big Fraze’ Clarke (5-0, 4 KO’s) – a bronze medallist for Great Britain at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics – is another fighter who counts Manchester’s arena as his second home, with three of his five professional bouts to date having taken place there.
His sixth outing is by far his toughest test to date. Experienced American Rydell Booker (27-7-1, 14 KO’s) has shared the ring with some of the biggest names in the sport. He lost a decision to Hall of Fame heavyweight James Toney in a 2004 world heavyweight title fight and went the distance with the highly-accomplished Filip Hrgovic and Kubrat Pulev.
Clarke’s fellow 2020 Olympic bronze medallist Karriss Artingstall – now 2-0 in the professional ranks – also returns to the ring in Manchester, with her opponent set to be confirmed in the coming days.
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.
WATCH LAWRENCE OKOLIE VS DAVID LIGHT FOR FREE ON PROBOX TV
ProBox TV and BOXXER have teamed up to bring boxing fans FREE championship boxing this Saturday, March 25th starting 15:00 Eastern Standard Time (USA). The WBO Cruiserweight world title fight between Lawrence Okolie and David Light is part of a free trial till May 1, for boxing fans to come and take a look at ProBox TV’s programming slate.
The action-packed card from Manchester, England will be available on the ProBox TV app/proboxtv.com in USA, Canada, DACH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), NORDICS (Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark), France, Holland, Turkey, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Philippines and South Korea.
The Manchester event is set to be action filled from the opening bell, with two undefeated cruiserweight’s topping an action packed card. Somebody’s 0 will have to go when Okolie and Light battle for world honours. Lawrence Okolie (18-0, 14 KOs) took charge of the WBO belt with a sixth round stoppage over Krzysztof Glowacki in 2021 and has since gone on to defend his title against Dilan Prasovic and Michal Cieslak.
New Zealand’s David Light (20-0, 12 KOs) comes off a victory on foreign shores over Brandon Glanton. The Auckland man won the split decision last December in a toe-to-toe brawl. Light claimed the undefeated record of Brandon Glanton, and is hoping for a similar outcome when he squares off with Okolie.
A stacked undercard precedes the cruiserweight world title fight in Manchester. The English Super Featherweight title will be on the line when Michael Gomez Jr (18-1) and Levi Giles (13-0) lock horns in a ten round duel. Heavyweight Frazer Clarke (5-0) will go to battle with Romanian, Bogdan Dinu (20-4) in an eight round contest, Callum Simpson (10-0) faces Celso Neves (9-3-2) and highly regarded Irish middleweight Aaron McKenna (15-0) also features on the card.
The show will start at 15:00 Eastern Standard Time (USA) on Saturday, March 25th.
Today’s weigh-in results in full:
Lawrence Okolie (14st 4lbs) vs. David Light (14st 2lbs 5oz)
WBO World Cruiserweight Title (12×3)
Frazer Clarke (19st 5lbs) vs. Bogdan Dinu (17st 10lbs)
Heavyweight (8×3)
Michael Gomez Jnr (9st 4lbs) vs. Levi Giles (9st 2lbs 5oz)
Vacant English Super-Featherweight Title (10×3)
Karriss Artingstall (9st) vs. Linzi Kuczyński (9st 2lbs)
Featherweight (6×2)
Callum Simpson (11st 4lbs 3oz) vs. Celso Neves (12st 0lbs 5oz)
Super-Middleweight (8×3)
Rhys Edwards (9st 2lbs 5oz) vs. Brian Phillips (9st 3lbs 5oz)
Featherweight (8/6×3)
Shakiel Thompson (11st 12lbs 5oz) vs.Robert Talarek (11st 11lbs)
Middleweight (6×3)
Samiel Antwi (10st 13lbs) vs. Omar Rodriguez (10st 13lbs)
6×3 Welterweight
Frankie Stringer (9st 12lbs) vs. Jacob Laskowski (9st 11lbs)
6×3 Lightweight
Harvey Lambert (10st 13lbs) vs. Casey Brown (11st 5lbs 2oz)
Super-Welterweight (4×3)