Noel or Junior…which cruiser is superior ?

By James Blears

Former WBC cruiserweight champion Junior Ilunga Makabu must be familiar with the concept of: “To have and have not,” made famous by the Ernest Hemmingway novel, which was turned into the Howard Hawks film.

The southpaw from the Congo had it all, lost it and now it`s all or nothing to try and regain it!  On Saturday November 4^th opportunity knocks, as he fights mandatory challenger Noel Gervor Mikaelian from Germany via Armenia and now based in Florida. The fight for the vacant title will be at Casino Miami, Jai-Alai Miami, Florida.

The event is being promoted by flamboyant Don King, who is still going strong and clarion voiced aged ninety two.  Bold as brass and showman that he is and will forever be,  Mr King insists : “It`s a festive boxing season to outshine any before.  A November and December to remember!”  Such unquenchable vintage enthusiasm has its port of call and should be bottled.  Cruise control until someone gets decked?

It`s been a rocky road for Ilunga, who`s encountered pebbles in his shoe along the way. In 2016 he calmly and audaciously flew to the Liver Bird`s eyree  to take on Liverpool`s Tony Bellew at Goodison Park, the home ground of Everton soccer club, for the vacant WBC cruiserweight title.  An emotional unique night for Tony who`s a lifelong Toffees fan.  But Ilunga almost ruined the fairytale.  At the end of round  one his peach of a left hook counter, upended Tony and its momentum caused the plucky Scouser to execute an almost perfect backward somersault.  Tony got up still stunned and hurt and the sweet music of the bell sounded.

Tony had courted disaster, teetering upon the verge of  it. But on that special night crackling with pent up and then released gushing emotion, Tony wasn`t to be denied. He knocked Ilunga unconscious in a fabled third round and at last on his third attempt became champion of the world. Ilunga`s previous defeat had been a first round TKO stoppage in his 2008 debut, against Khayeni  Hlungwane.

This second one proved a significant setback for heavy handed Ilunga who`d already fared far worse having  overcome a childhood scared by poverty in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Remembering his lean, stringy, modest roots, which spurred him on as a hungry fighter, he donates money to help feed and educate children.

Weathering another stage of adversity, Ilunga  fought his way back and travelled all the way to Russia to win the vacant WBC Silver Belt by stopping Dmitry Kudryashov in round five.  He was once again on track and on his way climbing the ladder after a wrong rung!

Then, on home turf of Kinshasa, he took on previously undefeated Michal Cieslak for the Absolute title and triumphed in a slugfest.   Serious trouble in the third, yet Ilunga ralled a round later to knock his opponent down. But Cieslak returned the compliment in a torrid fifth.  Ilunga who soaked up considerable  pressure kept fighting  back to win a UD,  and with it, he achieved his dream of becoming champion of the world.

At the World Boxing Council`s 2021 Convention in The Intercontinental  Hotel in Mexico City, Ilunga came within an ace of hitting the jackpot.  Eddy Reynoso requested that Saul Canelo Alvarez fight  him for the cruiserweight title.  This was a two way Green and Golden opportunity.  Had it taken place and Saul had won, it would have been a history maker, with a belt in a fifth weight category.  Victory or defeat, would have provided Ilunga with golden goose financial nest egg  security for life. But alas…it was not to be.

Ilunga made two successful defenses of his crown. He stopped African champion Olanrewaju Durodola in the seventh with two clubbing left hooks.  Not such a plain sailing cruise against durable and resourceful  Thabiso Mchunu, who presented a sterner test, which Ilunga came through via a MD.

Then it all unraveled against Badou Jack, who dropped him with a heavy right in the fourth, repeated the dose in the eleventh and then piled on the pressure to stop Ilunga with a TKO in the final round. Badou has vacated the title to pursue Bridgerweight laurels. So Ilunga has one more opportunity and it`s against Noel.

How much has this most recent defeat taken out of Ilunga.  During it he shipped a lot of sustained punishment.  Aged thirty five, he`s  only two years older than Noel, but his career has been  considerably more grueling. Though, best to remember that Ilunga demonstrates admirable depth and traits of character under fire. When the pressure is on, he digs deep drawing balm from a reservoir of resolve and calm. Of his twenty nine pro career wins, twenty five have been KO`s.  He possesses and he retains the power!

The flip side of the coin is if Noel can cope with that stunning punching, avoid it impose his own smarts and win the world title. His record is 26-2, 11 KO`S.  Thus far, he`s never been stopped.

In 2017, he lost a SD TO Krzysztof Wlodarczyk. Two fights later he lost a UD to Mairis Briedis for the WBC Diamond Belt.  He bounced back winning  the WBC International Belt with a fourth round TKO of Jesse Bayan and in his most recent fight, he won the WBC`s Silver Belt with a UD over Youri Kayembre Kalenga.  He`s earned his opportunity!

At last year`s WBC Convention in Acapulco, Noel already had his sights set on Ilunga and said he was looking forward to the fight of a lifetime.  It looked set to happen at the beginning of this year, didn`t but now is right back on track.

Ilunga is likely to be seeking a slugfest at short range where he can body punch and use his vaunted left hook upstairs. Noel will use his height and reach advantages to punish the man from the Congo, who isn`t a difficult target to find, while trying to avoid the impact of a bolt from the blue.  So often just one well placed punch can derail the best laid plans.