Lawrence Okolie retained his WBO cruiserweight title with a comfortable, not-so-spectacular unanimous points decision win over Michal Cieslak in London.

The 29-year-old floored the Polish challenger in the fifth round but was not at his fluent best in a bout where both men continued to grapple and hold.

Okolie raced out of the blocks with a thunderous opening round before sending his opponent to the floor in the fifth round.

However, Cieslak, supported by a large Polish contingent inside the O2 Arena, survived the early onslaught to take the fight to the distance.

Cieslak shook off the knockdown and recovered well in the sixth round. He connected with an uppercut in the seventh and a straight left while Okolie was backing away in the eighth - but the champion was the busier fighter.

Okolie twice landed cleanly in the 10th round but as the fight headed to its conclusion, both men started to get more reckless and the holding seemed to worsen.

Despite the ungainly and often ugly nature of the fight, as the final bell rung there was no question as to who the winner was.

"It was quite a flat performance," Okolie told BBC Radio 5 Live. "My fitness was good but 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. I will go back to the gym, go again and make it right the next time."

It may not have been his greatest performance to date but Okolie is an undefeated world champion with 18 straight wins as a professional.