Joshua Buatsi, Lawrence Okolie, Lewis Ritson Pick Up Title Wins On Edwards vs. Moreno Undercard
Charlie Edwards wasn’t the only fighter in a title bout at the Copper Box Arena on March 23 as several other British stars got big wins as well.
On the undercard of Edwards’s WBC flyweight title defense against Angel Moreno, rising contenders Joshua Buatsi, Lawrence Okolie and Lewis Ritson all won their respective title fights. The card was streamed in the United States on DAZN.
Starting with Buatsi, he overpowered former English champion Liam Conroy to win the BBBofC British light heavyweight title. Buatsi dominated the short fight, dropping him once in the third round and then landing left-right combination that would send him down for good later in the round. Conroy managed to get up but was unable to properly respond to the referee’s orders, prompting the fight to be stopped.
Also on the undercard was another BBBofC British title fight, this time in the cruiserweight division. Okolie also had another quick night as he stopped Wadi Camacho in the fourth round to retain the belt and add the Commonwealth title back to his growing collection of titles, which include the WBA Continental championship. Okolie, ranked in the top 10 in both the WBA and WBO rankings, now moves to 12-0 as a pro.
Lastly, Lewis Ritson defeated German Argentino Benitez by unanimous decision (99-91, 98-92, 98-92) to win the WBA Intercontinental junior welterweight title. This was Riston’s first fight at 140 pounds since moving up in weight in the aftermath of his loss to Francisco Patera last year with the EBU European lightweight title on the line.
