Lawrence Okolie is set to join BOXXER’s growing stable as it’s been confirmed that they will be promoting his next fight against David Light.
Okolie has been ordered to defend his WBO world cruiserweight title against David Light, and purse bids were set to go ahead on Thursday, but a deal has been agreed upon to pay dividends to that.
Per BoxingScene, the world title clash is set to take place on March 11th in London, with a specific venue yet to be announced. The fight will be promoted by BOXXER and broadcast on Sky Sports. The WBO Championship Committee chairman, Luis Batista-Salas, confirmed this in a letter to all parties.
“The WBO World Championship Committee acknowledged receipt of correspondence from Team Okolie’s legal representative Mr. Mohit Pasricha whereby Okolie confirmed in writing that his team had reached an agreement with Team David Light pertaining to the ordered subject matter mandatory bout.
Also, the Committee confirmed receipt of correspondence on behalf of Team David Light confirming the agreement between the parties.
According to the fighters, through their representatives, the bout will be promoted by “Boxxer” and will take place on Saturday, March 11, 2023, in London, United Kingdom.”
BOXXER have since confirmed the news on their Twitter too.
It’s official: Lawrence Okolie 🤝 David Light
WBO world cruiserweight title fight agreed for 2023.
Venue to be announced in the new year. https://t.co/w1jvUrw6kr
— BOXXER (@boxxer) December 22, 2022
Okolie has been in a dispute with promoter Eddie Hearn over the last few months over his contract with Matchroom. BOXXER approached Okolie in the summer on the understanding that his contract was up with Matchroom. However, Hearn claimed that the WBO cruiserweight champion still had one fight left on his contract.
This dispute is regarding Okolie’s fight against Nikodem Jezewski in 2020. Okolie was set to Krzystof Glowacki on that night for the vacant WBO title, however, illness ruled out Glowacki. Hearn told IFL TV that the Jezewski fight took place outside of Okolie’s contract, meaning he would still have one fight left.
When purse bids were initially called, the notification letter to all parties listed Matchroom Boxing as the representative of Okolie.
The WBO’s resolution which confirmed the cancellation of purse bids, it was noted that Okolie’s lawyer, Themba Smith, requested that the WBO refrain from including Matchroom in any further correspondence pertaining to Okolie’s clash with Light, however, Matchroom disputed this.
“The WBO confirmed email communication by Mr. Themba Smith, on behalf of Team Okolie confirming receipt of the negotiation notice and advising that Matchroom Boxing was no longer Okolie’s promoter. Consequently, Mr. Smith requested that the WBO refrain from including Matchroom in any further correspondence pertaining to Okolie/Light.”
“Thereafter, the WBO received an email response from Mr. Shaun Palmer, on behalf of Matchroom Boxing asserting that Okolie and Matchroom are parties to a pending dispute resolution process and in order to preserve the legal status quo, Matchroom should remain informed on matters pertaining to Okolie.”
The BOXXER stable features both Richard Riakporhe and Chris Billam-Smith who are both highly ranked across the governing bodies in the cruiserweight division, and with the addition of Okolie, they could host the best cruiserweights in the UK within their stable.
This seems to be a movement in the back and forth that has been brought to the attention of the public. Okolie has responded to the matter on Twitter saying ‘Locked In’ with a winking emoji, we’re sure this isn’t the last we hear regarding this situation.