Thursday 17 December 2020

Rumble In The Jungle: Durodola battles Makabu for WBC title in Kinshasa



By Akeem Lawal

NIGERIA boxer, Olanrewaju Durodola will be aiming to become the World Boxing Council World Cruiserweight champion when he takes on title holder, Ilunga Makabu from The Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday, December 19, in Kinshasa, Republic of the Congo.

Sportsbiz247.blogspot.com reports that the professional boxing match, which will be held at the Kinshasa Arena in Kinshasa (scene of course of the celebrated “Rumble In The Jungle” between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman) could however prove to be a fight worthy of being given a tag-line all of its own.

Makabu (27-2, 24 ko`s) will be making the first defense of the WBC belt he won by defeating Michal Cieslak back in January, while Durodola (34-7-0, 31 ko’s) defeated Olarewaju Segundo last October to retain the African Boxing Union (ABU) cruiserweight title.


Earlier in February, Durodola became the new ABU Cruiserweight champion with a third-round TKO over Abraham Tabul of Ghana at the Old Kingsway Building in Accra, Ghana.



Popularly known as God's Power, Durodola as an amateur represented his country in many international tournaments, including fighting as heavyweight at both the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China and 2009 AIBA World Boxing Championships in Milan, Italy. 



After concluding his amateur career, Durodola worked in Nigeria as a police officer and with the Force`s support, became a professional boxer. After winning the African Boxing Union (ABU) cruiserweight title in 2012 and the WBC Americas cruiserweight title in 2013, Durodola suffered his first loss to Thabiso Mchunu (14-1), on points in January 2014.



Following his victory over Dmitry Kudriashov (18-0) in Russia in 2015, Durodola was honored by Nigerian President Mohammadu Bahari, and also promoted the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) by the Nigerian Police Force.



Durodola, who has won his last five fights since losing to Michal Cieslak in the vacant Republic of Poland International Cruiser Title bout in May 2019.

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