Liverpool’s Tony Bellew will get a second chance to become a world champion this summer, as his promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed Bellew will face Ilunga Makuba for the vacant WBC cruiserweight title. Grigory Drozd was supposed to defend against Makuba but pulled out of the April fight injured and will now become either “Champion in Recess” or will be stripped of the title completely.
So Bellew and Makuba get their chance. There is no date or confirmed venue yet, but the word is June 4th is likely and Bellew wants the fight in Liverpool. Bellew, a former challenger of WBC light-heavyweight ruler Adonis Stevenson (“Bomber” losing inside six-rounds in 2013) has won six in a row since moving up to cruiserweight where he says he feels more comfortable and more powerful. Bellew has some good cruiserweight wins on his record, most notably a revenge points win over Nathan Cleverly and a EBU title win over Mateusz Masternak, which came in the 33-year-old’s last fight in December.
Bellew, 26-2-1(16) has also gained plenty of attention due to his acting debut in the successful ‘Rocky’ spin-off, “Creed.” Against the southpaw from South Africa (Makuba was born in the Republic of Congo), Bellew will likely get a tough fight, even if he does wind up getting home advantage. Known as “Junior,” Makuba, 19-1(18) is a hard nut with serious punching power. The sole loss on Makuba’s pro ledger came in his very first fight, when he was TKO’d in the opening round of a four-rounder against Khayeni Hlungwane. Since that bad start, Makuba has kept a clean sheet and he has stopped each opponent he has faced barring Dmytro Kucher, who he beat via majority verdict in 2013.
Makuba has boxed mostly in South Africa but also in Monaco and in June of 2014 he became one of the few men (just two: Makuba and Bernard Hopkins) to have ever stopped the seriously tough Glen Johnson. Okay, it was an old Johnson, but the 9th-round TKO Makuba scored in Kinshasa is still noteworthy. Makuba has also scored a highlight reel KO of Thabiso Mchunu, who he flattened in eye-catching style in the 11th-round in his last fight, in May of last year.
Despite the layoff that followed that win, Makuba will no doubt be ready for Bellew. Makuba is a clever and somewhat awkward and tricky boxer as well as a hard hitter. Bellew will be over the moon to be getting this shot, even more so if he gets the fight at home, but he is in no way certain to win the fight.
