By Scott Gilfoid: Former two-time world title challenger Tony Bellew (26-2-1, 16 KOs) will be fighting #1 WBC knockout artist Ilunga Makabu (19-1, 18 KOs) for the vacant WBC cruiserweight title at a still determined date and venue. Makabu is a bigger puncher than Adonis Stevenson in terms of his left uppercut. We saw how Stevenson was able to take Bellew apart with his big left hands. If Makabu is able to land his left uppercuts against Bellew, then it’ll be an early night for Makabu.
The WBC title was reportedly stripped from WBC champion Grigory Drozd after he suffered an injury while getting ready for a defense against the hard hitting Makabu. As such, #6 WBC Bellew will be getting the opportunity to fight Makabu for the vacant WBC title.
Bellew’s promoter Eddie Hearn is interested in having the Bellew vs. Makabu fight staged at Goodison Park, a football stadium in Liverpool, UK. It’s unclear whether Hearn will get his way or not.
I don’t know if it’ll help Bellew any to fight in front of a large crowd or not, because the only way he’s going to be able to beat the Makabu is by going to war with him. The southpaw Makabu is a pure puncher, and he’s going to be looking to take Bellew’s head off no matter how much screaming Bellew’s fans are doing.
This is a really tough ask for Bellew to best Makabu, but it’s not impossible. Makabu is slow, short, and not very big for the division. Although listed at 6’2”, Makabu looks at least two inches shorter than that. He was clearly a couple inches shorter than the 6’2” Eric Fields in their fight in 2014.
Bellew, 6’2”, will have a height and reach advantage over Makabu. The fight is a winnable one for Bellew, but he’ll need to stay on the outside for the entire 12 rounds to have a chance to win. Makabu has one dangerous puncher in his arsenal – a left uppercut. It’s a devastating weapon for him, and that’s how he usually gets all his knockouts.
Makabu’s straight left and right hook aren’t that powerful in comparison for some reason. He only seems capable of generating huge power on his left uppercut. Bellew will obviously need to move constantly and not let Makabu crowd him if he wants to win. That’ll be easier said than done, because Makabu is a lot like Gennady Golovkin with the way he stalks his opponents, cuts off the ring and forces them to fight in close whether they want to or not.
Bellew, 33, is a two-time loser when it comes to world title attempts. He was beaten by former WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly and WBC 175lb champion Adonis Stevenson in the past. However, Bellew has won his last six fights since moving up to the cruiserweight division in 2014 following his knockout loss to Stevenson.
Bellew hasn’t faced anyone that you can call a good cruiserweight yet, so his fight against Makabu is going to be a MAJOR step up in class. Bellew did struggle to beat fringe contender Mateusz Masternak by a 12 round decision last December. However, there’s a world of difference between Masternak and Makabu. Beating Masternak proved nothing other than Bellew could beat a fringe contender without a lot of power. It’s going to be a much different kettle of fish in facing Makabu.
Makabu is coming off of a 11th round come from behind knockout win over Thabiso Mchunu last May. Makabu was getting out-boxed by the shorter Mchunu and things were staring to look bleak for him when he landed a crushing left uppercut that knocked Mchunu out in the 11th.
“I’m so pleased Tony gets to challenge for the title,” said Hearn to skysports.com. “We have made no secret of our desire to stage this bout at Goodison to recreate the scenes of the recent Creed movie – it’s a fairytale story and the club are very keen to make it happen. Makabu is without doubt one of the toughest fights in the division but Tony was willing to fight anyone to make his dream become reality.”
Makabu was beaten in his first fight as a pro in 2008 by Khayeni Hlungwane. Since then, he’s beaten all 19 opponents he’s faced. Makabu’s biggest wins in his career have come against Mchunu, Dmytro Kucher, Eric Fields and Glen Johnson. Makabu didn’t look good against Kucher or Mchunu. Like I said, his power bailed him out in his fight with Mchunu.
Bellew will need to be able to take some monstrous left uppercuts in order to have a chance of beating Makabu. Can he do it? Yeah, I think Bellew can win this fight, but it’ll depend on how well he can neutralize Makabu’s left uppercut. Bellew will be under pressure the entire fight, and he’s going to need to keep from getting hit too much with that punch for him to have a chance to win.
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