It seems COVID wasn’t content with just fouling up this weekend’s Spence-Garcia PPV. Former cruiserweight champion Krzysztof Glowacki has tested positive for the virus as well, scrapping his December 12th vacant title fight against Lawrence Okolie. The bout served as the co-feature for Anthony Joshua vs. Kubrat Pulev at Wembley.
Eddie Hearn has put out the call for a replacement.
Glowacki (31-2, 19 KO) was set to fight for the first time since his controversial loss to Mairis Briedis in June of last year. The ridiculous circumstances of that loss led the WBO to order a rematch, then strip Briedis of the belt when he elected to face Yuniel Dorticos in the WBSS finals instead.
Seeing as we’re 9 days from fight night, there isn’t enough time for a full two-week quarantine, limiting the available options. Per the WBO, Okolie’s (14-0, 11 KO) highest-ranked countryman is Richard Riakporhe (#13); other ranked Europeans include Montenegro’s Dilan Prasovic (#3), Russia’s Evgency Tischenko (#4), and Germany’s Nikola Milacic (#9). We’ll let you know who Okolie ends up fighting and whether it will still be a title fight as soon as we know.
The card currently features Hughie Fury vs. Mariusz Wach, Martin Bakole vs. Sergey Kuzmin, and Souleymane Cissokho vs. Kieron Conway.