Makabu, Bryan and Langston Win on Don King’s PPV card

Congo’s Ilunga Makabu won the battle of southpaws against Thabiso Mchunu by split decision to retain the WBC cruiserweight world title and keep his place in line for a possible super fight with boxing’s recognized king Saul “Canelo” Alvarez on Saturday.

Makabu (29-2, 25 KOs) proved once again he was slightly better than Mchunu (23-6, 13 KOs) in a cruiserweight fight filled with elbows, kidney shots and rabbit blows at the Packard Music Hall in Warren, Ohio.

It was a rematch for the two southpaws who plain just don’t like each other. Makabu (pictured on the left) had won their first encounter by knockout in the 11^th round nearly seven years ago. But time and experience showed Mchunu had learned a thing or two despite keeping his front guard low.

Both fighters showed off their boxing skills with precision punches and counter blows. Neither fighter seemed in danger of going down in an even fight. After the final bell the champion Makabu attempted to hug Mchunu who shoved him away as fans booed.

Two judges gave Makabu the win by split decision at 115-113, 116-112 as a third judge gave it to Mchunu 115-113.

Congo’s Makabu retains the title and keeps his hopes of meeting Mexico’s Canelo Alvarez whose team has mentioned plans to seek a world title at cruiserweight.

“He’s a fighter and a counter puncher. I didn’t come to knock him out, I just came to box because my next fight is Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and I’m going to knock you out man,” shouted Makabu. “This is our time for Congo man. We are the best.”

Heavyweight Title Fight

WBA heavyweight titlist Trevor Bryan (22-0) won a spirited battle by decision against the much smaller but skillful Jonathan Guidry (17-1-2) to retain the belt. He nearly won by knockout at the last second of the final round.

If you went by looks it seemed Guidry was too small and not ready for the much bigger Bryan, but he showed very solid boxing skills fighting inside or outside for 12 rounds against the champion.

For most of the first eight rounds Bryan used his sharp jabs and quick overhand rights and uppercuts to keep Guidry on the outside. But little by little Guidry seemed to find the range with his quick counters.

In the ninth round, Guidry found the solution with short counter shot combinations that seemed to put a stall to Bryan’s attacks. Both fighters absorbed big shots and seemed unfazed. But Guidry seemed to get a confidence booster from the success.

Byran was never seriously hurt but concerned that he was getting tagged by solid shots. The flurry of jabs slowed down to a slow crawl as Guidry began using his own jab to score and set up combinations.

In the 12^th and final round both fighters opened up toward the last 45 seconds with Bryan scoring with combinations to the body and head. With one second to go Guidry went down from the blows and slowly was able to get to his feet as the fight ended.

After 12 competitive rounds Bryan won by split decision — 118-109, 116-111, 112-115 — to retain his version of the WBA heavyweight title.

“Trevor Bryan is here to stay. The only thing is I’m going to get better,” said Bryan after the fight. “Big shot out to Guidry, he’s a hard opponent. I’m still the champ.”

When promoter Don King was asked about a possible title clash against one of the other heavyweight world titlists, the longtime promoter was succinct.

“He got to go back to the drawing board,” said King about a heavyweight showdown with either Tyson Fury or Oleksandr Usyk. “He got to let that right hand go. He got to let it go.”

Cruiserweights

Johnnie Langston (10-3) stopped Nick Kisner (22-6-1) by technical knockout in the fifth round to win an NABA cruiserweight title fight. Langston dropped Kisner twice with body shots and then finished the job with a blow to the head at 1:40 of the fifth round.

“I was watching what he was doing in those rounds and putting punches together,” said Langston.

Other Bouts

Michael Moore (19-3, 8 Kos) defeated Anthony Lenk (17-8) by decision in a middleweight fight but was unable to win the NABA title because he weighed four pounds over the 160-limit.

Dacarree Scott (7-0) won by split decision after 10 rounds versus Ahmed Hefny (13-2).

Tre’Sean Wiggins (13-5-3) knocked out Cody Wilson (10-4) in the third round of their welterweight fight.

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