Boxing trainer Sean Smith reckons that circumstances are different now than they were when his boxer Thabiso Mchunu was stopped by Ilunga Makabu from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre (ICC) in 2015.
Smith has added that everything has changed as Mchunu challenges current World Boxing Council (WBC) cruiserweight titlist Makabu at the Packard Music Hall in Warren, Ohio, United States on Saturday (Sunday morning South African time).
“Different fight, different circumstances. Hopefully, different result. We’ve done our homework. Let’s see how the fight pans out,” Smith said from Ohio.
This is one of the biggest fights involving Africans as both boxers are trained in Johannesburg by South African trainers.
The 34-year-old Makabu, who is making a second defence of the title he won when he outpointed Polish Michael Cieślak in January 2020, is trained by Damien Durandt. Makabu stopped US-based Nigerian boxer Olanrewaju Durodola in the DRC in his first defence in December 2020.
Meanwhile, 33-year-old KwaXimba-born Mchunu did well in the earlier rounds only to gas out later something which resulted in the Congolese stopping him in the 11th round.
