Light/Okolie. Sunday.

[bart]

Yip good for him can hopefully line up some more $ fights

[diehard]

Hopefully, he can stay in Manchester area and train with Fury and JP and land some fights with some top UK fighters for some $$$.

He wasn't very exciting, but then, that was against Okolie. He can take a punch!

[bart]

Yeah was dull but not all on him Okolie was holding alot

[diehard]

Okolie disappointed me. That sharp jab and right hand didn't get the job done.

https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/03/26/light-falls-short-in-title-challenge-but-earns-respect-for-toughness/

[diehard]

David Light's trainer blasts refereeing in world title loss to Lawrence Okolie
Sam Wilson in Manchester

David Light's trainer Isaac Peach has blasted the referee after his fighter lost a foul-filled contest challenging Lawrence Okolie for his WBO world cruiserweight title in Manchester on Saturday night (Sunday NZT).

In a scrappy 12-rounder marred by constant holding and roughouse tactics – primarily from the giant Brit – Light (20-1, 12 KOs) was unable to close the distance often enough to land his punches as he fell to a unanimous points defeat on the scorecards at a subdued AO Arena.

And while Peach had no issue with the result and admitted the right man had won, he was less charitable in his assessment of the man in the middle, Bob Williams.

"The referee didn't do his job properly but we knew that was going to happen," a disappointed Peach told Stuff as he reflected on Light's gutsy defeat.

"He just let Lawrence hold. He hit David low ridiculously. It was f…ing disgusting, and he didn't even warn him. To me that was disgusting, but I don't think it would have changed the result."

Okolie was finally deducted a point for excessive holding in the 11th round, but it had no bearing on the outcome as the judges scored it 116-112, 119-108 and 117-110 in his favour.

David Light had moments of success against Lawrence Okolie but couldn't quite capitalise on them.
He may not have been a fan of the dark arts he employed during the fight, but Peach praised Okolie's fighting abilities and said he had proven a much tougher opponent than they had anticipated.

"Watching Lawrence on TV is a lot different from being in the ring with Lawrence, he is extremely big. The way he fights make it so f…ing hard to get there [up close]!" he said.

"Every time David's going to try and get there [on the inside] it's dangerous. It's f…ing effective and I think Lawrence is by far the best cruiserweight in the world. I don't think anyone beats him after that.

"I think if he gets a guy the same size as him with the same length, then Lawrence is maybe in trouble. Otherwise, I think it's going to be hard for anyone smaller to beat him."

On the whole, Peach felt Light had acquitted himself well against the notoriously awkward Okolie and just hadn't been able to capitalise on the brief moments where he was in the ascendancy.

However, by going the distance, Light had shown that he belonged at world level and was deserving of this opportunity.

"I thought we were going alright, I thought we were turning the fight around, maybe around [rounds] six and seven," Peach said.

"I thought the fight started to turn around and I thought we were in a position to win the fight … and then we got hit, caught.

Lawrence Okolie raises his hand in triumph after defending his WBO world title against David Light.
"We did really well staying away from his right hand, and stuff started to work. The problem we've got is when we stay away from the right hand is actually being able to get there [up close] from there, it was f…ing a long way! He was so long.

"But look, he was all in. That's why he got hurt. He could have kept circling to the right and played it safe and got through that fight, but he didn't. He got hurt badly twice, and that was because he wanted to win."

Light was the first of four world-ranked fighters in Peach's burgeoning stable to earn a world title shot (Mea Motu will fight for the vacant IBO super bantamweight title next month) and he admitted it stung that they had come up short.

However, he hoped the 31-year-old Aucklander would decide to fight on and look to get himself back in contention after gaining invaluable experience on the big stage.

"It's too early to say what happens from here, but I hope David gets back into training and I hope he goes forward and wins a world title. Because I 100% believe he will," Peach said.

"It's the first time any of us have done this. It hurts because we came up short, but we will come back stronger."