Ilunga Makabu goes to heavyweight division.

This news sucks. He could've done very well for himself against everyone @ Cruiser.

 

What an idiotic statement

 

stupid phone..... meant to hit Wilder, but hit Stiverne instead by mistake. so yeah. disregard the 1 vote for stiverne.

 

No kidding. Cruiserweight division is wide open.
More winnable fights for him there than HW, imo.

 

and ruin his punch resistance

 

I was curious as to how Makabu could have been knocked out by such an unaccomplished fighter in his debut pro fight so I did a little research on the fight.
I came across an article where he was interviewed and questioned about that loss and he had this to say.

"Junior” Makabu packs a record of 11 wins in 12 fights – all inside the distance. He assumes a rueful look when I question him about his one and only loss – his first fight in this country. “My problem was not my opponent (Khayeni Hlungwane) who I met at the Carousel Casino in June 2008. My problem was my complete lack of knowledge and understanding of the English language. My opponent managed to get in a punch to my lower ribcage in the first round which temporarily winded me. I took a knee and was up and raring to go at around eight. The referee then asked me if I was OK to continue and I didn’t have a clue what he had said to me. I second-guessed that he might have said something like ‘are you still hurt?’ and I must’ve shaken my head. He took that as a signal that I did not wish to continue and he waved off the fight. This was an absolute catastrophe for me as I was so keen to make an impression in my first fight in this country,” he says.

http://www.africanringmagazine.com/jan-feb-2013/ilunga-makabu.html

The article says that he also had a number of other pro fights in his home country which were never put on his record. supposedly all wins by KO.

 

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. Still miffed that he moved to HW.

 

Well if that article is to be believed he could quite easily be 26-0 with 25 KO's. He would have a higher stoppage ratio even than Golovkin.

Only Kucher has gone the distance with him, and to be fair Kucher is a rugged character who would take some stopping.