Boxing: How Lawrence Okolie defended world cruiserweight title with scrappy win

Lawrence Okolie has defended his WBO cruiserweight title with a scrappy points victory over Michal Cieslak at the O2 Arena.

The British fighter had been hoping to make a statement on Sunday night ahead of potential unification fights or before a step up to heavyweight.

However, despite flooring his opponent in the fifth round, Okolie did not come close to the stoppage in a contest which was dominated by holding and punches behind the head.

Although Okolie was reckless at times, he still managed to prevail comfortably on the scorecards by margins of 117-110, 116-111 and 115-112 respectively.

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Elsewhere on the card, Jordan Gill stole the show with a highlight-reel stoppage of Karim Guerfi, getting off the canvas and spending two rounds absorbing pressure in the corner before knocking out the European champion with a second remaining of the ninth round.

Olympic gold medallist Galal Yafai marked his professional debut with a fifth-round stoppage of Carlos Bautista, while Anthony Fowler bounced back from defeat to Liam Smith last year by posting a points win over Lukasz Maciec.