Okolie vs Light: Fight time, undercard, prediction, ring walks and latest betting odds
It’s only the Londoner’s third title defense, which he won two years ago by stopping Krzysztof Glowacki, with an early knockout of the hopelessly overwhelmed Dilan Prasovic, followed by a points win over Michal Cieslak.
This weekend is Okolie’s first fight in about 13 months after being embroiled in a bitter contractual split with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom before teaming up with Ben Shalom and Boxxer.
After a stint outside the boxing ring, ‘The Sauce’ hopes to quickly regain momentum in its quest to unify the cruiserweight division and potentially move up into the heavyweight ranks.
In Light, Okolie meets an undefeated contender who has 20 wins from as many professional fights, 12 KOs, and who burst onto the stage by winning the heavyweight silver at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
The New Zealander, 31, is the reigning WBO Global, International and Oriental champion at 200lbs as well as Okolie’s duty after overcoming a late knockdown to beat Brandon Glanton by split decision in Florida in December.
Okolie vs Light Date, Start Time, Venue and Walking Tours
Okolie vs Light takes place on Saturday 25th March 2023 at the AO Arena in Manchester.
The undercard is scheduled to start at 19:00 GMT, with the main event ring walks expected around 22:00.
As always, these times are subject to change depending on the length of undercard fights.
Full Length Okolie vs Light Fight Card/Undercard
The vacant England super featherweight belt is up for grabs when Michael Gomez Jr. and Levi Giles square off in the night’s co-main event, while Team GB hero Frazer Clarke continues his professional journey against Bogdan Dinu after American Rydell Booker retired has illness.
Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Karriss Artingstall is also in action, along with a host of high-profile contestants including Callum Simpson, Aaron McKenna, Harvey Lambert and Frankie Stringer.
Lawrence Okolie vs. David Light
Michael Gomez Jr vs. Levi Giles
Frazer Clarke vs. Bogdan Dinu
Callum Simpson vs Celso Neves
Rhys Edwards vs. Brian Phillips
Karriss Artingstall vs. Linzi Buczynskyj
Samuel Antwi vs Omir Rodriguez
Shakiel Thompson vs. Robert Talarek
Aaron McKenna vs. Luke Ndafoluma
Harvey Lambert vs Casey Brown
Frankie Stringer vs. Jakub Laskowski
Mandatory challenger: New Zealander David Light is undefeated in 20 professional fights
/ Getty ImagesHow to watch Okolie vs Light
TV channel: In the UK, Okolie vs Light will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Action from 19:00 and on Sky Sports Main Event from 20:00.
Live broadcast: Subscribers can also follow the action live online via the Sky Go app.
Live broadcast: You can follow coverage of the whole map on the Evening Standard’s live fight night blog.
Okolie vs Light fight prediction
It very much feels like Okolie needs a statement performance this weekend.
After more than a year away after a rather horrible fight against Cieslak, all momentum has been lost in his quest to become the cruiserweight undisputed champion.
His falling out with Hearn has grabbed far more headlines than his fighting prowess in recent weeks and months and attention must now turn back to the ring.
“The Sauce” needs to impress on his return to the ring
/ Getty ImagesLight is hardly the kind of opponent against whom a clear win would strike fear into the other champions of this class, Arsen Goulamirian, Jai Opetaia, and the newly crowned Badou Jack, but nonetheless it’s badly needed.
And we think he’ll get it due to an early layoff.
Okolie wins by KO in round four.
Okolie vs Light weighing results
The weigh-in of the entire card takes place on Friday. Then check back to see the results!
Okolie vs Light betting odds
Okolie wins: 1/10
Easy to win: 6/1
Draw: 20.1
Okolie wins by KO or TKO: 4/11
Okolie wins by points or decision: 7/2
Easy to win by KO or TKO: 9/1
Easy to win by points or decision: 12/1
Odds via Betfair (subject to change).