Photo: Heuschrecke via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped. This adapted image is also licensed CC BY-SA 3.0.
Lawrence Okolie is still the WBO cruiserweight champion of the world. The plant-based Londoner beat Poland's Michal Cieslak by unanimous decision at the O2 Arena tonight, with the judges scoring it 117-110, 116-111 and 115-112.
It was Okolie's second defense of the belt he won by knocking out Krzysztof Glowacki last March. He put Cieslak on the canvas in the fifth round, and Cieslak, who went in as the WBO's number three contender, made it a scrappy, physical night. The win takes Okolie to 18 wins from 18 fights as a professional.
He was honest about it afterwards. As Plant Based News reports, he told 5 Live Boxing:
It was a flat performance and I allowed it to get messy. This was one of those days where it was tough, awkward, and the guy was physically strong, but I need to work on the mentality that it doesn’t need to be perfect.
Not many unbeaten world champions grade their own homework that harshly. Next up could be a unification fight with another of the division's champions.
Okolie has eaten a plant-based diet since he turned professional in 2017. He describes himself as mainly vegan: no meat, fish, eggs or cow's milk. He says it helps him manage his weight in a division with a 200lb limit and gives him more energy to train. In his words: "I eat all the wonderful fruit and vegetables out there, rice, grains - basically stuff that gives me energy to train but then it's not as hard to process in my body."
We've followed Okolie since he won the British cruiserweight title at Wembley in 2018, and he knocked out Glowacki to become world champion last year. He's walking a path that former heavyweight champion David Haye helped clear for plant-based fighters.
Eighteen fights, eighteen wins. No meat, no problem.