Ilunga Makabu vs. Thabiso Mchunu: date, time, how to watch, background
Ilunga Makabu, a candidate to face Canelo Alvarez, will defend his cruiserweight title against Thabiso Mchunu on pay-per-view.
Ilunga Makabu (28-2, 25 KOs) vs. Thabiso Mchunu (23-5, 13 KOs)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 29 Time: 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT (main event later in show) Where: Packard Music Hall, Warren, Ohio TV/Stream: Pay-per-view (FITETV.com, DonKing.com, DKPBoxing.com, ITube247.com) Cost: $49.99 Division: Cruiserweight Weights: Makabu 197, Mchunu 198½ At stake: Makabu’s WBC title Pound-for-pound ranking: None Odds: NA Also on the card: Trevor Bryan vs. Jonathan Guidry, heavyweights Prediction: Makabu KO 8 Background: The main reason this rematch is significant is that super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez has indicated he might want to move up to 200 pounds and challenge for Makabu’s title. The Congolese southpaw won his belt by outpointing Michal Cieslak in January 2020. He successfully defended by stopping Olanrewaju Durodola the following December and hasn’t fought since, meaning he will have been out of the ring for 13 months. Makabu fought Mchunu the first time in 2015 in South Africa, where he won what had been a close fight by an 11th-round knockout. He was stopped by then-WBC beltholder Tony Bellew in his next fight. He hasn’t lost since then, a span of nine fights. Mchunu, a South African, has ability. He has won his last four fights, including decisions over Thomas Oosthuizen (avenging an earlier loss) and Denis Lebedev. He was stopped by then-titleholder Oleksandr Usyk in nine rounds in 2016. The 33-year-old last fought in March of last year, when he easily outpointed Evgeny Tishchenko.