AJ-Usyk undercard: Okolie easily drills Prasovic in 3rd round to retain cruiser title

WBO cruiserweight titlist Lawrence Okolie knocked out mandatory challenger Dilan Prasovic in the third round of a one-sided fight on Saturday in the co-feature of the Anthony Joshua-Oleksandr Usyk heavyweight title fight at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.

Okolie (17-0, 14 KOs), 28, of England, fighting in his hometown, rocked Prasovic (15-1, 12 KOs), 26, of Montenegro, with a right hand followed by a right uppercut that sent him to a knee for a knockdown late in the second round. Then it was a left hand to the body that sent him to all fours in the third round as referee Steve Gray counted him out at 1 minute, 57 seconds.

“We settled into the fight and got the job done. Hopefully, we can get the next done in one round,” Okolie said.

Okolie was making his first title defense after claiming the vacant belt by sixth-round knockout of former titlist Krzysztof Glowacki on March 20 in London.

Now, he wants to unify.

“Now I can look to unification,” Okolie said. “I’m so eager to get the unifications. I want (champion Mairis) Breidis out of the rest of them because Breidis is ranked No. 1 and he’s got the most accomplishments at the weight. So, beating him would catapult me to No. 1 and put me down in the history of the cruiserweights in Britain and in the world. He’s the one I’m most after, but whichever (titleholder) they can get me, I’ll take.’

Also on the undercard

Lightweight Campbell Hatton (4-0, 0 KOs), 20, of England, the son of British legend Ricky Hatton, should count himself extremely lucky to have escaped Sonni Martinez (2-5, 0 KOs), 29, of Uruguay, with a victory. Hatton got the nod from referee Marcus McDonnell, the lone scorer for the bout, 58-57, in what appeared to be a very generous call. Hatton took numerous clean shots round after round and appeared to lose.

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Former super middleweight world titlist Callum Smith (28-1, 20 KOs), 31, of England, made a successful move up to light heavyweight for his first fight since losing his title by one-sided decision to Canelo Alvarez in December.

Smith scored an absolutely brutal second-round knockout of former world title challenger Lenin Castillo (21-4-1, 16 KOs), 33, of the Dominican Republic. Smith knocked him out cold with a right hand in the second round that left Castillo flat on his back with his legs quivering. He was taken from the ring on a stretcher and to the hospital. DAZN reported he was conscious.

Castillo challenged Dmitry Bivol for his 175-pound belt in October 2019 and lost a one-sided decision.

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Welterweight southpaw Florian Marku (9-0-1, 6 KOs), 28, a native of Albania fighting out of England, won a seemingly deserved split decision over Maxim Prodan (19-1-1, 15 KOs), 28, of Italy, in a fight the judges saw vastly differently. Two judges had it for Marku, 97-93 and 96-94, while one judge had it 99-91 for Prodan.

Photos: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing

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