Cruiser-weight title: Okolie vows to stop Watkins

Nigerian- born cruiser-weight boxer Lawrence Okolie believes he is 100 per cent confident he will knock-out Luke Watkins on Wednesday night.

Okolie will be fighting for Watkins’ Commonwealth cruiser-weight title at the sold-out York Hall in
London and the World Boxing Association (WBA) Continental Cruiser-weight champion expects the fight to
be tougher than his last fight with rival Isaac Chamberlain in February.

“I am 100 per cent confident I will stop Watkins. As a person, I don’t know him, or care about him,
it’s about winning the title against the champion.

“Chamberlain is a good fighter but this is a step up in terms of mentality and because he’s the
champion, he is going to have different attributes but it should make this a more exciting fight.”
Okolie, who is managed by heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua added that improvements in Watkins’
techniques would not stop him from getting knocked out.

“It depends on if he has made improvements – and I think every fighter makes improvements in camps –
but if he has the same tendencies we’ve seen in previous fights, it willl be over in around five or six
rounds.

“My main thing is not to see if I can knock him out, it is when and if I make any damage on the way.”
Okolie, 25, is undefeated in eight fights with six of the fights ending by knock-outs while Watkins is
also undefeated. The 28 year-old has won by knock-outs in nine out of 13 fights.