Makabu vs Durodola set for WBC silver title

Veteran cruiserweights Junior Makabu and Olanrewaju Durodola are set for a March 30 fight in Kinshasa, with the WBC’s “silver” title at stake.

Makabu (24-2, 23 KO) and Durodola (29-6, 27 KO) are both big punchers, so a distance fight seems unlikely, although it seems like 75% of the time we say that about a fight, they wind up going to the cards, so who knows?

Makabu, 31, had a shot at the then-vacant WBC cruiserweight title in 2016 when he went to Goodison Park in Liverpool to face Tony Bellew. He flashed his power early, dropping Bellew in the opening round, but the home fight stormed back to stop Makabu in the third.

Since that loss, he’s won five straight fights, albeit against less than stellar opposition.

Durodola, 38, has actually been involved in a handful of WBC “silver” title fights already. He beat Dmirty Kudryashov for that belt in 2015, then lost it in his next fight against Mairis Briedis in 2016. A 2017 rematch with Kudryashov was also for the “silver” belt, and Kudryashov got revenge, stopping Durodola in five. In Feb. 2018, Maxim Vlasov beat Durodola in another “silver” title bout.

Durodola lost a fight to Krzysztof Glowacki after the Vlasov defeat, but has won his last two.