Nigerian-British
boxer and Rio 2016 Olympian Lawrence Okolie took just 20 seconds to score a
knockout win on his professional debut.
The
24-year-old British cruiserweight who has Nigerian parents caught compatriot
Geoffrey Cave with two solid right hands.
The bout
followed Anthony Crolla’s points defeat by Jorge Linares at Manchester Arena.
“Sorry to
everyone that missed me fighting,” Okolie tweeted. “The good news is a Won by
KO in 20 seconds!! Bad news is I’m back in the cage for now.”
London-based
Cave, 33, has now lost all three of his professional fights.
Okolie
competed at heavyweight and lost to Cuban Erislandy Savon at the last-16 stage
at the Rio Olympics.
He had boxed
Savon once before and lost via a first-round stoppage, but at the second
attempt he went the three-round distance with the Cuban who would eventually
claim a bronze medal.
Savon had
lost to Nigerian born Anthony Joshua at the London 2012 which also inspired
Okolie.
Okolie had
explained that the likes of Joshua lured him into boxing.
“Before I
started boxing properly I was working in McDonald’s, and I was watching the
Olympics during my breaks whenever I could,” he told Sky Sports News HQ.
“It was the
only thing to do! There was a particular break where Usain Bolt won the 100m
then Anthony Joshua won gold. I felt something then.
“It was
really inspirational. I started putting more work into training, and believing
it more.”
Okolie hopes
to become a world champion within four years and is scheduled to fight on the
undercard of Ricky Burns’ super-lightweight unification bout with Julius
Indongo on April 15.
(NAN)
No comments:
Post a Comment