Lawrence Okolie stopped Lukasz Rozanski in the first round to claim the WBC bridgerweight title. The Briton floored the Polish fighter three times in his homeland before the referee ended the bout.
A powerful right hand from Okolie put Rozanski on the canvas for the first time, and he was quickly down again after being caught by another strong blow. Okolie then pounced with a flurry of shots to knock Rozanski down for a third and final time, securing his victory.
“This was the best moment in boxing for me so I’m super happy,” Okolie told Sky Sports. “New weight, putting the KO back in Okolie.”
Okolie was the WBO world champion at cruiserweight before losing to Chris Billam-Smith last year. His fight with Rozanski, billed as a world title bout, was in the new bridgerweight division. This division, boxing’s 18th overall, was created by the WBC in November 2020 to bridge the gap between cruiserweight and heavyweight. However, it is not yet recognized by most of the boxing world.
Bridgerweight begins at 14st 4lb (90.7kg) and has an upper limit of 16st (101.6kg).
