Askin vs Okolie Added To The Joshua vs Povetkin Undercard

Askin vs Okolie Added To The Joshua vs Povetkin Undercard

By Michael Richards 

One key fight announced recently for the undercard of the AJ vs Povetkin fight, is that of Matty ‘The Assassin’ Askin vs Lawrence ‘The Sauce’ Okolie for the British Cruiserweight Title.

The two have said plenty on social media, with Askin more than confident of upsetting the apple cart and to quote him believes he will “tear his head off”.

The fight pits experience against relative professional novice, with both men carrying power. Okolie is the man with the pedigree, as an ex Olympian and predicted by many, to go on and win a world title in the future. This is a test however for Okolie, with Eddie Hearn calling it a 50-50 fight.

Askin has been in with a higher level of opponent in his longer professional career and will look to use this, dragging Okolie to places he hasn’t been before, with Askin keen to hold on to his British title.

Okolie has had the edge with his sheer height in all his previous fights and although Askin stands only 1 inch shorter, those long levers of ‘The Sauce’ should be a telling factor in this fight. As cruiserweights go, he almost looks to be too big for the division and should, in my opinion, be too much for the gutsy Askin.

Okolie though cannot afford to overlook this fight, if he wants to continue his rise through the now increasingly popular cruiserweight division. Make no mistake, he isn’t and won’t be ready to step up to World level for the next 12 months, however beat Askin and that European Belt (current champion Yves Ngabu) is one Okolie should be looking at. The skies the limit for the Hackney man. He will be hoping he passes this test with flying colours.