The last weekend of February is a superb one for boxing in the UK. Josh Taylor will defend his unified light welterweight championship against Jack Catterall, and Lawrence Okolie will make a title defense against Michal Cieslak. Okolie comes into this fight with an unblemished 17-0 record, and 14 of his wins have come by knockout. That has made him a substantial favorite over Cieslak by the boxing betting odds, although Cieslak is 21-1-1 with 15 knockouts in his own right.
DAZN will be the only place to watch this title fight between Lawrence Okolie and Michal Cieslak. Okolie will have the crowd at his back in The O2 Arena, as he is a London native that has spent most of his career boxing in the Old Smoke. This card is slated to start at 12 p.m. ET in the United States, and the main event is estimated to occur at around 4 p.m. ET.
When: Sunday, February 27, 2022
Where: The O2 Arena, London, England
Why: WBO cruiserweight title
Lawrence Okolie vs Michal Cieslak Betting Odds
Lawrence Okolie -1200
Michal Cieslak +658
The unbeaten Okolie is a sizeable favorite to maintain a zero in the loss column on Sunday night in London. If you are unfamiliar with betting on boxing, a $1200 bet on Okolie would return $100 at this price if he were to defend his belt. Meanwhile, a $100 bet on Cieslak would earn a tidy $658 profit if the Polish boxer were to pull off the upset.
As the fight nears, there will be decision betting too. You will be able to bet on whether the fight is decided by KO, TKO, or decision, and you can bet on which boxer will win the fight in that fashion as well.
Lawrence Okolie vs Michal Cieslak Preview
This might be the last time we see Lawrence Okolie fight as a cruiserweight. There is a lot more money to be made in the heavyweight division, and Okolie has a frame that can add a few pounds. He doesn’t have much left to prove as a cruiserweight either, as he has won all 17 of his fights in this class since turning pro in March 2017.
Okolie won the WBA Continental cruiserweight belt in February 2018, less than one year after he started his pro boxing career. He continued to add UK titles to his waist until October 2019 when he bested Belgium’s Yves Ngabu to win the European cruiserweight title. That victory took his career to the next level, and a second-round TKO of Nikodem Jezewski to win the WBO International cruiserweight belt in December 2020 set up a title shot.
“The Sauce” took full advantage of the opportunity with a sixth-round knockout of Krzysztof Glowacki to win the WBO cruiserweight belt. He defended that title last September with a third-round KO of Dilan Prasovic, and this could be his last title defense before he joins a heavyweight division stacked with talented Brits.
Michal Cieslak has a nice record, but he hasn’t fought a lot of talented competition in his nine years as a professional boxer. We haven’t seen him challenge for any European or Continental titles, and his first regional title fight ended poorly. Cieslak scored a third-round TKO over Jezewski for the IBF Baltic cruiserweight title, but both fighters failed drug tests after the fight.
In January 2020, Cieslak took on Ilunga Makabu in Kinshasa for the WBC cruiserweight belt. He was 19-0 coming into the fight, but he lost a unanimous decision in his first title challenge. Cieslak did overcome the loss with a sixth-round knockout of Taylor Mabika in December 2020, and he dealt Yury Kashinsky his first loss last May with an impressive first-round TKO.
Okolie has the size and reach advantage. He is 6’5 compared to Cieslak’s 6’3 frame, and Okolie has an 82.5 inch reach compared to a 79 inch reach for Cieslak.
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