It's a non-starter, neither Bivol or Beterbiev have the $$$ to lure Makabu into a fight. They should fight each other though, or Ramirez or someone.
Agreed about this being a cherry pick. Makabu is a good, tough fighter but he isn't the Cruiserweight champ. That distinction belongs Briedis who would absolutely destroy Canelo. Sure he is would be winning a belt at CW but everyone that follows the CW division knows that Briedis is the man. With all that said, I'm still buying the fight because I like the matchup. I think Canelo will try to counterpunch the aggressive but slower Makabu.
But they haven't reduced it to 190 lb yet, it's still 200 lb: https://wbcboxing.com/en/cruiserweight/
Good points. 2) Agreed. 3) Makabu is better than some in this thread are claiming, and he is indeed more proven than Goulamirian, Merhy or Okolie. But I'm pretty sure he would lose to Okolie or Goulamirian nonetheless.
https://mmasucka.com/2020/10/24/wbc-announce-new-boxing-weight-class/ The WBC board has voted in favour of introducing the new weight class in between the current cruiserweight and heavyweight classes. The cruiserweight limit will now drop to 190lbs from 200lbs. The new division will be 224lbs and we’re currently unaware what the weight class will be called. The current WBC cruiserweight champion is Ilunga Makabu. At an impressive 27-2, notching 24 knockouts on the way, Makabu is a solid competitor. There is no way that Makabu can make 190lbs, so it will be likely that he will move up to 224lbs and compete for the ‘new’ title. The WBC cruiserweight limit will be different for the WBC in comparison to that of the IBO, WBO and IBF. IBF champion. Then a month later in November 2020, this article came out: https://boxingjunkie.usatoday.com/2020/11/wbc-plans-to-lower-cruiserweight-limit-from-200-to-190 The cruiserweight limit was raised from 190 to 200 a decade ago. "We are eventually looking into moving it back to 190 pounds," Sulaiman told Pro Boxing Fans. "[WBC cruiserweight titleholder Ilunga] Makabu just called me. He’s preparing for his title defense at 200 pounds but … he can do … 190 pounds." So over a year ago Makabu called him and said he can do 190 lbs. So this isn't some kind of weight demand coming from Canelo. This has been in the works ever since Sulaiman announced that there would be a new weight division called Bridgerweight.
I have been keen on Goulamirian since he beat Merhy in 2018 (or at least, I rate him a bit higher than most). I wouldn't argue with anyone picking Makabu vs Goulamirian though, and to be fair Canelo would get just as much flak if he picked Goulamirian.
Well the CW Champ hasn't fought or defended his title in nearly a year, not since last December, which was right after it was announced. So it would seem that his next defense would be the first opportunity to implement the change. Maybe that's why he hasn't defended the title for so long, to allow him time to adjust to the new limit. When the Cruiserweight limit was increased from 190 lbs to 200 lbs in the 2000s, all sanctioning bodies didn't adjust it at once.
Interesting fight. I haven't been that impressed by Egorov as a pro, so I'm going for Goulamirian via UD. It's in France but promoted by Ryabinsky. What are your thoughts?
Makabu vs Mchunu in November this year 2021 was (I expect this will get cancelled because of Canelo) going to be at 200 lb. So this may herald a change to 190lb, or be a catchweight. But the key point is that it's not the WBC making this 190 lb instead of 200 lb, it's team Canelo since this is obviously to their advantage. It's still an interesting fight though, so I'm not hating on Canelo for this. Makabu's fights are always fun and he does have power too.
Same here. Goulamirian probably outworks him to a points victory, although is he still with Abel Sanchez? I remember him and Sanchez really going at it during the Bejenaru fight.