By Geno McGahee
Ilunga Makabu, 26-2, 24 KO’s, earned a hard-fought 12 round majority decision over Aleksei Papin, 11-1, 10 KO’s, by scores of 113-113 and 115-113 (twice). From the opening bell, Makabu proved to be the bigger hitter, using his hard left hand and right hooks to keep Papin in check. The activity of Papin and movement was effective at times, but he was never able to take the keep any control of the fight.
In the 8th round, Makabu knocked down Papin, but it wasn’t called. The same can be said for the 11th round when the ropes kept Papin up. The writing was on the wall for a controversial hometown decision. In the 12th round, a right hand would drop Papin, but Makabu was exhausted and wasn’t able to follow up effectively.
In the final seconds of the final round, Papin would land a right hook that badly hurt Makabu but time ran out and it wasn’t enough, even in his hometown, to take the decision. The right guy won but Papin did find his courage in this fight. It looked like he wanted to quit the fight early on, but he stayed tough and came on late to try to take the decision win and had he landed that right hook earlier in the 12th round, he may have turned the tables completely. It was a good cruiserweight scrap that Makabu earned it.
