Ilunga Makabu Rallies To KO Thabiso Mchunu in Eleventh

By Carlos Boogs

International Convention Centre, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa - In a very important WBC cruiserweight eliminator -  Thabiso Mchunu (16-2, 10KOs) came on strong, faded during the late rounds and was knocked out in the eleventh by Ilunga Makabu (19-1, 18KOs), who is now the mandatory challenger to WBC champion Grigory Drozd of Russia.

Mchunu started strong, used defense and landed the better punches in the early going. The WBC open scoring had him up 40-36, 40-36 and 39-37 after four rounds.

But as the fight entered the second half, he appeared to tire with great significance and that allowed Makabu to open up with a massive rally down the stretch. After eight rounds, WBC open scores had tightened up with cards of 77-75, -78-75, 77-76.

The end appeared near as Mchunu had very little left in the gas tank by the tenth and Makabu was still coming on strong. During the eleventh round, a sensational left uppercut and left hand was the closer, as Mchunu went down and out.