Thabiso Mchunu vs. Ilunga Makabu this Saturday

By Boxing News - 05/15/2015 - Comments

By Jim Dower: This Saturday night, May 16th, two of the best cruiserweights in the division will be facing each other in #1 WBC, #7 IBF, #12 WBO Thabiso Mchunu (16-1, 10 KOs) and #3 WBC, #4 WBA, #5 WBO Ilunga Makabu (18-1, 17 KOs) at the International Convention Centre, in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. These are the guys that have been tactically avoided by the other top cruiserweights in the division.

Eddie Chambers moved down from heavyweight briefly and made the mistake of fighting the 5’11” Mchunu in August of 2013, and he wound up losing by a lopsided 10 round unanimous decision. That defeat was a big enough hint for Chambers to move back up to heavyweight.

Mchunu, 27, has looked great in his last two fights in beating Olanewaju Durodola and Garrett Wilson by lopsided decisions.

With his high ranking, Mchunu is in position to get a world title shot in the near future against Grigory Drozd if he can get past Makabu and keep winning. Mchunu is short for the cruiserweight division, but he’s got a Floyd Mayweather Jr. type fighting style with his shoulder roll defense, and his pot-shot style on offense.

Mchunu has very good hand speed, and he’s able to nail his opponents with fast shots before they have an opportunity to get their guard up to block his shots. He’s very stop because of his speed and perfect timing and accuracy on his shots.

The southpaw Makabu has been knocking out most of his opposition lately. He’s knocked out 17 of his last 18 opponents. His knockout percentage is 89.47, which puts him just behind Gennady Golovkin. The only guys to escape being knocked out during his seven-year pro career is Dmytro Kucher and Khayeni Hlungwane. Makabu beat Kucher by a 12 round majority decision in 2013, and he was knocked out in the 1st round by Hlungwane in 2008 in his pro debut. That was a freak thing for Makabu to be stopped by Hlungwane because this is a guy that Makabu would likely destroy if they were to face each other right now rather than in his first fight of his pro career.

Mchunu has the defense to give Makabu a lot of problems in this fight, and I’d be surprised if the hard hitting Makabu is able to land enough of his big shots for the fight to be a competitive one. But never the less, you have to give Makabu a puncher’s chance due to his huge power.



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