Lawrence Okolie takes the EBU cruiserweight strap from Yves Ngabu!
Coomonwealth and BBBofC cruiserweight champion Lawrence “The Sauce” Okolie (14-0, 11KO) took out undefeated EBU cruiserweight champion Yves Ngabu (20-1, 14KO) in seven rounds at the O2 Arena in London. The 6’5″ hometown fighter boasts a high knockout rate, however, his performances have not been very memorable.
This fight did not change the perception that Okolie may not be that marquee fighter some British fans think he will be.
Similar to his match-up against Matty Askin which was arguably the biggest stinker of 2018, The Sauce would be in another unimpressive performance regardless of capturing the stoppage victory. To the dismay of the crowd, they witnessed seven rounds of holding, mugging, sloppy inside fighting and all around terrible fundamentals from both men.
However, Okolie remained the better of the two, that is if you had no choice but to choose one. Amid the ugliness, he would land the more meaningful shots and seemed to have somewhat of a gameplan that made Ngabu look like a one-dimensional fighter.
Therefore, the positive here would be that the hometown favorite would utilize his massive height and reach advantage to get off first before purposely tying up in a clinch much like he did against Askin. While it is not the best strategy to win over the fans, at the end of the day it was Ngabu’s job to overcome this using ring IQ.
He failed miserably en route to getting hit with a short shot on the inside that would discombobulate him in the seventh round. Though he did not hit the canvas, the referee put the icing on the cake of a boring fight with a premature stoppage. Normally there would be disgust shown from the viewers and as the crowd did show their disapproval in the form of boo’s, it may have been from the overall performance rather than the awful stoppage.
Nevertheless, Okolie improves his record and captures another minor title. In the post fight interview, he claimed he wanted his promoter Eddie Hearn to tell the camera he is no longer a prospect and is ready for the bigger names in the division.
Hearn would oblige, but what would accompany the statement was another shower of boos from the crowd. Very interesting given Okolie was fighting at home, but this is a good reminder that the fans want excitement. Regardless of who you are and where your from!
By: EJ Williams
