Stoke Newington’s Lawrence Okolie added to Joshua v Kiltschko bill
Lawrence Okolie celebrates victory over Geoffrey Cave during the Cruiserweight bout at Manchester Arena. Picture: PETER BYRNE/PA WIRE - Credit: PA Wire/PA Images
Stoke Newington’s Olympian boxer Lawrence Okolie is gearing up for his second professional fight – and has also been added to the undercard at the Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko blockbuster.
The heavyweight-turned-cruiserweight will join team mates at Rio, Joe Cordina and Josh Kelly, at the huge Wembley Stadium clash on April 29.
And one of them will open the show as Joshua himself did at the same venue before Froch Groves II in 2014.
Promoter Eddie Hearn revealed that the trio will draw lots ahead of the event to decide that honour.
He said: “In terms of platform and experience, there is no better stage for their career. It was nearly three years ago that Anthony Joshua kicked the night off at Wembley Stadium for Froch vs. Groves II and I believe all three of these fighters have the ability to headline there in years to come.
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“We will draw numbers on fight week with the number one spot kicking off the night and the other two sitting tight for the knock on the changing room door as the huge 90,000 crowd begins to build.”
Before that however the Hackney fighter will head to Scotland on Saturday where he will face an as-yet-unnamed opponent at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow.
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The 25-year-old, who began his career at Lion ABC in Hoxton before moving to Repton BC, demolished Geoffrey Cave inside 30 seconds in his pro debut in Manchester last month.
Lion ABC’s Ram Singh proved too talented for March BC rival Acer Smith in the Cambridgeshire club’s own show.
It was a rematch from a Lion show a few weeks ago which Singh won unanimously although he needed a split decision this time around.
Pedro ABC light-middleweight Celal Ozturk has been given a walkover into the national senior quarter-finals of the Amateur Boxing Alliance.
