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Many industry insiders were caught off guard by Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez declaring a willingness to move up to cruiserweight for a fight with WBC cruiserweight titlist Ilunga ‘Junior’ Makabu.
Among them was Makabu’s next opponent, Thabiso Mchunu. What will surprise the veteran cruiserweight contender is if Alvarez’s quest for a fifth divisional title remains intact should the belt change hands this weekend.
“I was surprised when he called out Junior Makabu,” Mchunu confessed to BoxingScene.com. “I didn’t think he would jump all the way to cruiserweight. I wonder if he will still jump to cruiserweight after I beat Makabu.”
Mchunu enters his second career title fight while also gunning for revenge versus Makabu (28-2, 25KOs), which takes place Saturday evening atop a Pay-Per-View show from W.D. Packard Music Hall in Warren, Ohio (Fite.TV, $49.95).
The bout comes nearly seven years after their first meeting, which saw Mchunu lead on two of the three scorecards after ten rounds before suffering a heartbreaking eleventh-round knockout in Durban, South Africa. A left uppercut and overhand left by Congo’s Makabu put Mchunu (23-5, 13KOs) down and out, the start of a rough stretch where he would go 3-4 in a seven-fight span, including a ninth-round knockout loss to then-unbeaten WBO cruiserweight titlist Oleksandr Usyk in December 2016.
Mchunu has since turned things around, riding a four-fight win streak heading into Saturday’s main event. The 33-year-old South African southpaw avenged a prior loss to Thomas Oosthuizen with a twelve-round, unanimous decision victory in their December 2018 rematch. Two fights later came a dominant twelve-round points win over former unified WBA/IBF cruiserweight titlist Denis Lebedev in December 2019 on the road in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.
In his most recent start, Mchunu cemented his place as a leading cruiserweight contender with a twelve-round, unanimous decision win over 2016 Olympic Gold medalist and then-unbeaten Evgeny Tishchenko in Ekaterinburg, Russia.
“That win over Tishchenko really boosted my confidence,” Mchunu confesses. “He was an Olympic Gold medalist, and I only sparred four times before that fight. I had an injury on my shoulder blade but I fought through it and it showed what I can do against the best cruiserweights. I am going to do even better on Saturday night.”
Mchunu enters the fight 3-0 in rematches, including his revenge-fueled win over Oosthuizen three months after believing to have been robbed of victory in a majority decision defeat to his countryman. The current win streak he’s riding leaves Mchunu feeling more confident than ever heading into this weekend.
“I’ve been waiting seven years for this moment,” admits Mchunu. “I knew I was better than him on that night but I just couldn’t finish the fight the way I wanted. Now, here we are again and this time for the WBC world title. Right now, I am feeling good and I am ready to become the WBC cruiserweight champion of the world.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox