Tony Bellew has told Ilunga Makabu that he will not deny him his dream World title win when they clash for the vacant WBC Cruiserweight strap at Goodison Park in Liverpool on Sunday May 29, live on Sky Sports.
Bellew welcomes Makabu into the Lion’s den on Sunday night when the pitch where his beloved Everton play on becomes the stage for his third crack at landing a World title.
Typically for Bellew – he’s chosen the hardest way possible to achieve his dream. Since losing by KO on his debut in 2008, Makabu has KO’d 18 of 19 opponents and is the most avoided fighter in the division.
Makabu concedes a considerable height advantage to Bellew, and with the Merseyside man believing he’ll be heavier as well as taller than the visitor, Bellew says it’s ‘Junior’ who has the real problem on his hands on Sunday.
“There’s nothing he can do to beat me,” said Bellew. “Boxing is a brutal sport and he has to make it as brutal as possible but I don’t believe he has the size and structure to do it. He’s going to come in light which will be a bad mistake. The advantages he usually has in fights are through speed and power – he’s normally faster than his opponents and punches harder than them too.
“In this fight, I don’t think he’ll have those against me. I’ve carried my speed from Light Heavyweight to Cruiserweight, and I don’t think he’s got more power than me. I’ll be the bigger man, I’ll make it show and I am the real Cruiserweight. Look at when I am stood next to Johnny Nelson – we’re the same size, and Johnny Nelson was known as one of the monster Cruiserweight, well so am I.
“He’s been put on the floor. I don’t care if it was in his first fight or last fight. Who’s he beaten that’s a World class fighter? If Glen Johnson is his best win then that says a lot to me. I’m his biggest test and he’s mine. We both have records that suggest we both have vulnerable tendencies so anything can happen.
“I believe I am going to hit him early, really nail him, and he’s going to feel it. Then it’s going to go one of two ways, he’s going to use his southpaw stance to be cute and defensive, or he’s going to say, come on then, let’s fight. If he does the latter, I’ll happily go for that, because no smaller man is going to outfight me. He can’t outpunch me, he can’t outwork me, the only way I can lose this fight is if I walk onto something huge, but I think I might be a bigger puncher than him. My record might not reflect it but look at his face when I catch him clean, he’s going to know he’s been hit.”
Bellew’s clash with Makabu is part of a huge night of action at Goodison Park as Stephen Smith looks to bounce straight back from his brave World title challenge by taking on Daniel Brizuela for the vacant WBC Silver Super-Featherweight title, and he’s joined on the bill by his Super-Middleweight brothers Paul and Callum.
Birkenhead’s Sean ‘Masher’ Dodd faces Pasquale Di Silvio for the vacant WBC International Lightweight title, while Tom Farrell meets Kofi Yates in an eliminator for the English Super-Lightweight title.
Liverpool Heavyweight favourite David Price is back in action and there’s a host of young talent on display including British Light-Heavyweight champion Hosea Burton, Preston’s Commonwealth gold medallist Scott Fitzgerald and Merseysiders JJ Metcalf, Paul Economides, Gerard Carroll, Craig Glover and Steve Brogan.
Tickets are on general sale now priced £40, £60, £100 and £200 and can be purchased by visiting www.evertonfc.com/eticketing, or by calling 0151 556 1878*. Alternatively, tickets can be purchased in person by visiting the Park End ticket office or our City Centre ticket facility in Everton Two, Liverpool One. £350 VIP tickets will be available exclusively from www.matchroomboxing.com
Opening times for all ticket outlets can be found here.
*Booking fees apply.
Tickets for May 29 are also available from http://www.stubhub.co.uk/matchroom-boxing-tickets/ – StubHub is the official ticket partner and marketplace of Matchroom Boxing and Anthony Joshua MBE.
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Ilunga Makabu has told Tony Bellew that he’ll turn his dream night at Everton FC into a nightmare when they clash for the vacant WBC World Cruiserweight title at Goodison Park on Sunday May 29, live on Sky Sports.
Makabu brings a fearsome KO record to Merseyside with 18 of his 19 straight wins coming inside the distance, and the 29 year old says he will silence the hometown support and make Bellew his latest KO victim.
“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!
“People can come to support, and I’m happy for this as I like seeing lots of people. I’m ready to fight Tony and handle whatever he brings. I can’t wait to fight him.
“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. 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 8 or 10 rounds with me, let alone 12 – no way.”
Makabu’s clash with Bellew is part of a huge night of action at Goodison Park as Stephen Smith looks to bounce straight back from his brave World title challenge by taking on Daniel Brizuela for the vacant WBC Silver Super-Featherweight title, and he’s joined on the bill by his Super-Middleweight brothers Paul and Callum.
Birkenhead’s Sean ‘Masher’ Dodd faces Pasquale Di Silvio for the vacant WBC International Lightweight title, while Tom Farrell meets Kofi Yates in an eliminator for the English Super-Lightweight title.
Liverpool Heavyweight favourite David Price is back in action and there’s a host of young talent on display including British Light-Heavyweight champion Hosea Burton, Preston’s Commonwealth gold medallist Scott Fitzgerald and Merseysiders JJ Metcalf, Paul Economides, Gerard Carroll, Craig Glover and Steve Brogan.
Tickets are on general sale now priced £40, £60, £100 and £200 and can be purchased by visiting www.evertonfc.com/eticketing, or by calling 0151 556 1878*. Alternatively, tickets can be purchased in person by visiting the Park End ticket office or our City Centre ticket facility in Everton Two, Liverpool One. £350 VIP tickets will be available exclusively from www.matchroomboxing.com
Opening times for all ticket outlets can be found here.
MATCHROOM SPORT PRESENTS : MAKABU vs. BELLEW
ILUNGA MAKABU (Congo)
Ranked WBC No. 1 at cruiserweight
Age: 29
Residence: Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
Place of birth: Kananga, Democratic Republic of Congo
Record: 19-1, 18 KOs
Stance: Lefthanded
Total rounds: 85
WBC affiliated titles: WBC International, WBC Silver
Manager: Tarik Saadi
TONY “Bomber” BELLEW (United Kingdom)
Ranked WBC No. 6 at cruiserweight
Age, date of birth: 34 (Nov. 30, 1981)
Residence: Liverpool, England
Place of birth: Liverpool, England
Record: 26-2-1, 16 KOs
Stance: Righthanded
Total rounds: 194
WBC affiliated titles: European Boxing Union, WBC Silver, WBC International
Promoter: Matchroom
WBC CRUISERWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPIONS
- Marvin Camel (US) 1980
- Carlos de Leon (P. Rico) 1980 – 1982
- S.T. Gordon (US) 1982 – 1983
- Carlos de Leon (P. Rico) * 1983 – 1985
- Alfonzo Ratliff (US) 1985
- Bernard Benton (US) 1985 – 1986
- Carlos de Leon (P. Rico) * 1986 – 1988
- Evander Holyfield (US) 1988
- Carlos de Leon (P. Rico) * 1989 – 1990
- Massimiliano Duran (Italy) 1990 – 1991
- Anaclet Wamba (Fra) 1991 – 1995
- Marcelo Dominguez (Arg) 1995 – 1998
- Juan Carlos Gomez (Cuba-Ger) 1998 – 2002
- Wayne Braithwaite (Guyana) 2002 – 2005
- Jean-Marc Mormeck (France) 2007
- O’Neil Bell (US) 2006 – 2007
- Jean Marc Mormeck (France)* 2007
- David Haye (GB) 2007 – 2008
- Giacobbe Fragomeni (Italy) 2008 – 2009
- Zsolt Erdei (Hungary) 2008 – 2010
- Krzystof Wlodarczyk (Poland) 2010 – 2014
- Grigory Drozd (Russia) 2014 – 2015
* Regained
GENERAL INFORMATION ON THE CRUISERWEIGHT DIVISION IN THE HISTORY OF THE WBC
18 world champions have been recognized by the WBC, of whom only two have regained the title: Carlos de Leon (Puerto Rico) three times, Jean Marc Mormeck (France) one time.
68 cruiserweight world title bouts have been held in the history of the WBC.
WBC Statistics by Luis Medina.
*Booking fees apply.
Tickets for May 29 are also available from http://www.stubhub.co.uk/matchroom-boxing-tickets/ – StubHub is the official ticket partner and marketplace of Matchroom Boxing and Anthony Joshua MBE.
