Briton Lawrence Okolie defended his WBO cruiserweight belt with a comfortable yet scrappy points victory over Michal Cieslak at London’s O2 Arena.
The 29-year-old floored the Polish challenger in the fifth round but was not at his fluent best in a bout where both men continued to grapple and hold.
The judges’ scorecards read 117-110, 116-111 and 115-112 – all to Okolie.
The Londoner now moves closer to a unification bout, with IBF champion Mairis Briedis a possible opponent.
Raucous crowd but scrappy bout
Prime time boxing on a Sunday evening is a rarity and in the build-up to the main event there was a somewhat more placid, yet intimate, atmosphere compared to regular world-title fight nights.
But the 6,000 fans in attendance certainly made themselves heard when Okolie entered the ring alongside former heavyweight champion and mentor Anthony Joshua and UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
There was also huge Polish support for Cieslak – the arena at times resembling a football ground with chants exchanged between the home and away fans.
Okolie edged the first round with a huge right which landed cleanly in an otherwise scrappy start.
The fighters engaged in more clinches and smothered each other’s advances in rounds two to four but Okolie – with effective jabs to the body – was doing enough to control the fight and win the rounds.
By the fifth round, Okolie had found his range and looked light on his toes. A chopping right glanced the top of Cieslak’s head and then moments later Okolie countered with a right and the challenger was down on one knee.
Cieslak shook off the knockdown and recovered well in the sixth round. He connected with an uppercut in the seventh and a straight left while Okolie was backing away in the eighth – but the champion was the busier fighter.
Okolie twice landed cleanly in the 10th round but as the fight headed to its conclusion, both men started to get more reckless and the holding seemed to worsen.
Despite the ungainly and often ugly nature of the fight, as the final bell rung there was no question as to who the winner was.
