By Jason Kim: WBO interim cruiserweight champion Ola Afolabi (19-2-4, 9 KO’s) will be fighting 40-year-old former WBA/WBC cruiserweight champion Jean-Marc Mormeck (36-5, 22 KO’s) on November 23rd, in Paris, France. Afolabi, 32, is coming off a controversial 12 round draw against WBO cruiserweight champion Marco Huck last May in a fight that many boxing fans felt should have gone Afolabi’s way.

Mormeck is coming off of a 4th round TKO loss to IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitshko from last March in Germany. Mormeck, 5’11”, simply didn’t have the height, reach or weight to compete against the much bigger and stronger Wladimir. But now that Mormeck has gotten a payday fight against Wladimir and unfortunately lost badly, he can do the smart thing by moving down to cruiserweight, at least for this fight, and seeing how can do against a very good Afolabi.

Mormeck was still an excellent cruiserweight after he lost his WBA/WBC cruiserweight titles in a 7th round TKO loss to David Haye in 2007. The smart thing for Mormeck to have done would have been to get back in the ring and resume fighting at cruiserweight, because Haye quickly vacated those titles and moved up to heavyweight. Instead of resuming his career at cruiserweight, Mormeck didn’t fight for two years until coming back as a heavyweight in 2009. Mormeck subsequently won three controversial fights against B level opposition before facing Wladimir and getting totally wiped out.

Afolabi hasn’t lost a fight in three years since losing a 12 round decision to Huck in 2009. Afolabi has really improved since then with his training with the Klitschkos and he’s a much different fighter now with his use of his jab and not spending so much time clowning around on the ropes like he used to. Afolabi did gas out badly in the last three rounds against Huck last May and that obviously cost him the victory because he appeared to win the first six rounds of the fight. But he really didn’t help himself by fading so badly.

If Mormeck can fight like he used to when he was the cruiserweight champion he could give Afolabi a lot of problems. However, Mormeck just looked like a faded old guy against Wladimir and it’s difficult to see him being competitive against a still in his prime Afolabi. I see this as going badly for Mormeck.

Mormeck still has good punching power, but it’s unclear whether he’s got the stamina, work rate and the chin to stay in there for long against Afolabi. Mormeck used to be able to take a decent shot without getting hurt, but against Wladimir he quickly folded. Afolabi has good power and he’ll no doubt be testing Mormeck’s chin early and often to see if he spot some weakness.

In his last fight, Mormeck weighed in at 216. That weight is going to have to come off to fight Afolabi, and when you’re talking about 16 pounds or more there’s always a chance that Mormeck could end up weight drained. He can’t afford to be weak against a fighter like Afolabi or he’ll get taken out quick.