It is only the Londoner’s third defense of the title he claimed by stopping Krzysztof Glowacki two years ago with a early knockout from the hopelessly outmatched Dilan Prasovic followed by a win exhaust points above Michal Cieslak.
This weekend represents Okolie’s first fight in some 13 months after being embroiled in a bitter breach of contract with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom before joining forces with Ben Shalom and Boxxer.
After a period of the boxing ring, ‘The Sauce’ hopes to regain some momentum soon in its quest to unify the cruiserweight division and possibly move up to the heavyweights.
In Light, Okolie meets an undefeated challenger who boasts 20 wins from as many professional bouts with 12 knockouts, who first came onto the scene by winning silver in the heavyweight division at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
The New Zealander, 31, is the reigning WBO Global, International and Oriental champion at 200lbs as well as Okolie’s mandatory, after overcoming a late knockdown to beat Brandon Glanton via split decision in Florida in December.
Okolie vs Light date, start time, location and ring walks
Okolie vs Light will take place on Saturday 25 March 2023 at the AO Arena in Manchester.
The undercard kicks off at 7pm GMT, with ring walks for the main event around 10pm.
As always, those timings are subject to change depending on the length of the undercard fights.
Okolie vs Light fight card/undercard in full
The vacant England super featherweight belt is up for grabs as Michael Gomez Jr and Levi Giles go head to head in the night’s co-main event, as Team GB hero Frazer Clarke continues his professional journey against Bogdan Dinu after American Rydell Booker pulled out due to illness.
Fellow Tokyo 2020 Olympic medalist Karriss Artingstall is also in action, along with a slew of highly valued prospects including Callum Simpson, Aaron McKenna, Harvey Lambert and Frankie Stringer.
Lawrence Okolie v David Light
Michael Gomez Jr v Levi Giles
Frazer Clarke vs Bogdan Dinu
Callum Simpson v Celso Neves
Rhys Edwards vs Brian Phillips
Karriss Artingstall v Linzi Buczynskyj
Samuel Antwi vs Omir Rodriguez
Shakiel Thompson v Robert Talarek
Aaron McKenna vs Lukas Ndafoluma
Harvey Lambert vs. Casey Brown
Frankie Stringer vs. Jakub Laskowski
Mandatory challenger: New Zealand’s David Light is undefeated in 20 professional bouts to date
/ Getty ImagesHow to watch Okolie vs Light
TV channel: In the UK, Okolie vs Light will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Action from 7pm and on Sky Sports Main Event from 8pm.
Live stream: Subscribers can also follow the action live online via the Sky Go app.
Live coverage: You can follow the coverage of the entire map with Evening Standard’s live fight night blog.
Okolie vs Light battle prediction
It feels very much like Okolie needs a statement performance this weekend.
After being absent for over a year after a pretty awful fight against Cieslak, all momentum has been lost in his quest to become the undisputed cruiserweight.
His dispute with Hearn has made headlines much more than his fighting spirit in recent weeks and months, with attention now turning back to the ring.
‘The Sauce’ must deliver a convincing performance on his return to the ring
/ Getty ImagesLight isn’t exactly the kind of opponent against whom an emphatic victory would terrify the other champions in this class, Arsen Goulamirian, Jai Opetaia and the brand new Badou Jack, but it is still much needed.
And we think he’ll get it thanks to an early stoppage.
Okolie wins by knockout in round four.
Okolie vs Light weigh-in results
The weighings for the entire map take place on Friday. Then come back for the results!
Okolie vs Light betting
Neighborhood to win: 1/10
Light to win: 6/1
Draw: 20/1
Okolie wins by KO or TKO: 4/11
Okolie to win by points or decision: 7/2
Light to win by KO or TKO: 9/1
Light to win by points or decision: 12/1
Odds via Betfair (subject to change).