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The bout would be for the vacant WBO cruiserweight title until Glowacki tested positive for COVID-19.
British prospect Lawrence Okolie (14-0, 11 KOs) will have to wait for the chance to become a world boxing champion.
The 27-year-old’s scheduled bout against Polish veteran Krzysztof Glowacki (31-2, 19 KOs) for the vacant WBO cruiserweight championship was called off after Glowacki tested positive for COVID-19.
The contest would be the primary support for Anthony Joshua’s defense of the WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight titles against mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev on the December 12 card at SSE Arena, Wembley.
Londoner Okolie will stay on paper against a cruiserweight opponent to be announced. Promoter Eddie Hearn is now looking for someone to take on the 2016 Rio Olympics on short notice.
“Research is on,” Hearn noted. “Any top 10 cruiserweights slip into my DMs.”
It is unclear whether or not the WBO belt will remain the reward for the modified match-up. Hearn’s specific request for a top 10 fighter may affect this.
Should Hearn and Okolie be forced to settle for a lower level opponent on December 12, there is a chance the WBO will instead choose to wait until 2021 to schedule a new fight to crown a champion.
Okolie is one of the many fighters who had to wait until the end of 2020 to return to the ring following the coronavirus pandemic.
His latest outing was a seventh round TKO from Belgian Yves Ngabu to win the European cruiserweight title on October 26 last year at London’s O2 Arena.
Glowacki held the WBO belt in the past, defeating Marco Huck in New Jersey to an 11th round stoppage on August 14, 2015. He lost the following year to Oleksandr Usyk, who is one of only two professional boxers to best the Polish together with Mairis Briedis.
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