By Scott Gilfoid: Knockout specialist Ilunga Makabu (19-1, 18 KOs) says there is no doubt in his mind that he’s going to be knocking out home fighter Tony Bellew (26-2-1, 16 KOs) on Sunday night when the two of them fight for the vacant WBC cruiserweight title at Goodison Park Stadium in Liverpool, UK.
Makabu, 29, has been knocking out everybody he’s faced pretty much since he first turned pro in 2008. The boxing world really took notice of the talented Makabu in his last fight against the defensive wizard Thabiso Mchunu last year in May 2015. The fight was basically even going into the 11th round when Makabu knocked Mchunu out in the round with a pulverizing left upper cut to the head.
Mchunu is a guy that some fans compare to Floyd Mayweather Jr. due to his craftiness in the ring. He’s very hard to hit cleanly, and perhaps that’s why Makabu couldn’t take him out until the 11th.
Putting hands on Mchunu was a real test for Makabu but he passed that test. In comparison, Bellew is a lot easier to hit, and he’s not someone known for his defensive skills. Bellew is going to have a very, very hard time not getting hit by the southpaw Makabu’s left uppercut in this fight. Makabu only needs to connect with that punch once to score a knockout or to stun his opponents. Bellew is going to need to fight the perfect fight for him not to get knocked cold in this fight.
“I am the King of Knockouts and for sure I will knock him out. I’m not going to be surprised and the people shouldn’t be shocked when they see me knock Tony Bellew out,” said Makabu via skysports.com. “I’m not going to wait for this fight to go the distance – I will knock Tony out much before then. He won’t be able to survive eight or 10 rounds with me, let alone 12 – no way.”
I hate to say it but I think Makabu is right. I see him knocking Bellew out cold in this fight and I don’t think there’s much he can do about it. Bellew can run, jab and hold, and believe me I’ve seen him do a lot of those things in different fights, but I think he’s just going to be putting off the inevitable. He’s not going to be able to pitch a no hitter or a perfect game in this fight.
Makabu will get to him sooner or later and land a peach of a left uppercut to the head. Whether Bellew will have the chin to take that shot is doubtful. Coming events cast their shadows before. Bellew fell apart completely the last time he fought a big puncher in Adonis Stevenson in 2013. Bellew looked okay for the 1st round, but as soon as Stevenson started landing his heavy shots, he had him reeling. It was a full scale retreat by Bellew and it didn’t help. It was a route basically. Stevenson nailing a totally defensive Bellew with huge blasts from both hands, and not having to worry about anything being thrown back at him.
I think Bellew is going to crumble within two rounds on Sunday night once Makabu gets warmed up and starts landing his big left hand shots. It’s just too bad the fight is taking place at Goodison Park in front of his fans, because that’s obviously not an ideal venue for a home fighter when he’s up against someone as talented as Makabu. I think it would have been better to have the fight outside of the UK in a neutral venue or in South Africa so that it would limit the amount of Bellew’s fans that will see the fight. I’m just saying. It would be a strategic career move.
“People expect me to be scared of the occasion as the stadium will be full of his people cheering him and booing me,” said Makabu. “Tony must not wait for his people to get behind him to start fighting – as once we are in there, no one can help him, it’s just me and him.”
Makabu is saying this in response to the stuff he’s been hearing about how it’ll be difficult for him to fight Bellew in front of his many fans at Goodison Park. Makabu isn’t worried about all that because he plans on taking him out regardless of the cheering fans.
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On the undercard, the recently beaten super featherweight Stephen Smith (23-2, 13 KOs) will be facing Daniel Eduardo Brizuela (28-5-2, 8 Kos) for the vacant WBC Silver super featherweight title. Smith lost his last fight to IBF World super featherweight champion Jose Pedraza by a 12 round unanimous decision last April. The fight against Brizuela is confidence booster for Smith of sorts, as the fighter has lost four out of his last seven fights. We’re not talking world champion material, are we? I’m just wondering why Smith is fighting a guy like Brizuela for the vacant WBA Silver strap rather than a contender in the top 15. Smith’s loss to Pedraza has knocked him down the ranks. He’s now ranked #12 by the IBF.