There is one more contest on the undercard of Jake Paul vs. Tommy Fury. Ilunga Makabu makes an unexpected return to defend his world championship against Badou Jack. Ilunga Makabu has previously defended his world title belt twice, and this will be his third attempt.
Earlier, it was announced that the anticipated fight between Jake Paul and Tommy Fury is going to take place in Saudi Arabia on February 26. Although there is one more interesting matchup that has been stated on the undercard of the awaited match.
It’s the current WBC cruiserweight world champion taking on Badou Jack, who also previously won the WBC super-middleweight title.
However, the Junior is most well known for his WBC cruiserweight title winning and defending it since. He has made his two successful defenses while having the home advantage, against Olanrewaju Durodola and Thabiso Mchunu.
Furthermore, the pandemic broke the spirit of continuous dominance. It will be interesting to see the Congolese-South African pro boxer in action after this long break. Although the fans are very optimistic about the title reigning for the third time.
WBC Cruiserweight Champion Ilunga Makabu 29-2-25 KO’s will defend his title against Former 2 Division World Champion Badou Jack 27-3-3-16 KO’s on Jake Paul’s undercard 2/26/23 on ESPN+ PPV #fighthooknews #makabujack #toprankboxing #espnboxing #boxingmedia #boxingworldwide #boxing pic.twitter.com/GpnMbhA7r2
— JCalderonBoxingTalk (@Jcalderonboxing) January 28, 2023
🥊 Announced: Ilunga Makabu will defend his WBC cruiserweight world title vs Badou Jack on the undercard of Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury, Feb 26th in Saudi Arabia.
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) January 27, 2023
On the other hand, The Ripper is also well known for winning the WBC super-middleweight and WBA light-heavyweight titles and defending them for a while.
Although now he has moved into the cruiserweight division and is challenging the title for the first time. Having said that, his first cruiserweight fight in the division came in a victory over Blake McKernan on the undercard of Mike Tyson’s return exhibition fight with Roy Jones Jr LA. He has also played a bunch of Floyd Mayweather’s undercards, as he was signed with Mayweather Promotions at the time.
On Sunday in Saudi Arabia, two of the youngest boxers will square off for the first time while two veterans compete for the cruiserweight title. The question is: can the 35-year-old reign over his title for the third time, or is the Ripper going to win his first-ever cruiserweight title?
