The 24-year-old British cruiserweight caught compatriot Geoffrey Cave with two solid right hands.
The bout followed Anthony Crolla’s points defeat by Jorge Linares at Manchester Arena.
Cave had himself only boxed twice before but from the moment he started moving clockwise, Okolie was waiting.
A three-punch combination, starting and ending with a right, saw Cave topple back into the ropes
before Okolie ended it with another ramrod right.
“I managed to keep my focus and didn’t get overawed by the occasion,” he told Sky Sports.
Press play to see Okolie’s fast and furious finish below.
London-based Cave, 33, has now lost all three of his professional fights.
Okolie competed at heavyweight and lost to Cuban Erislandy Savon at the last-16 stage at the Rio Olympics.
He hopes to become a world champion within four years and is scheduled to fight on the undercard of Ricky Burns’ super-lightweight unification bout with Julius Indongo on 15 April.
Lawrence Okolie with a big KO victory in Round 1 on his pro debut! #LightsOut#LinaresCrolla2 http://pic.twitter.com/4c82Z6nGVD
— The Fight Crowd (@TheFightCrowd) March 26, 2017
Source:
EmoticonEmoticon