Ilunga Makabu is one of Africa’s most celebrated boxers of recent times. He has held several WBC cruiserweight titles since 2020 and is also known for winning series for fights. Also, he is the older brother of heavyweight boxer Martin Bakole Ilunga.
The 37 years old boxer with a southpaw stance has competed with boxers from different parts of the world and although he won most of them, he lost only a few to Tony Bellew and Khayeni Hlungwane.
Most Interesting Facts About Makabu Everyone Should Know
1. He Hails From a Boxing Family
Junior Ilunga Makabu was born on November 8, 1987, in Kananga, Democratic Republic of Congo to a family of boxers.
His grandfather was a professional boxer and his father, Makabu Foreman was a boxing champion in DR Congo. In an interview, Makabu mentioned that his family is filled with boxers.
Among his boxing family members, Martin Bakole Illunga is the most renowned. He was born on June 1993 as the younger brother of Martin. He became a professional boxer in 2014 and has won no fewer than 18 wins.
To make it even more interesting, it was Makabu who trained his brother Bakole. This is partly so they could keep the practice in the family.
2. Ilunga Makabu Played Football
He was a footballer long before the boxer made it in the boxing world. At the time, his father had a team that according to him in an interview, he took to the second division.
As a footballer, Makabu was an ardent scorer. However, he then started to drift from the sport and paid attention to boxing.
3. Makabu Started Boxing at the Age of 9
Being raised in a home of boxers, it was;t long until he took interest in the sport, and by the time he was 9 years old, he started taking part in it. Within a short period, he learned as much as possible and has since been in the industry.
His strive for greatness took him to South Africa in 2006 after he heard that wrestling was thriving in the country in the mid-2000s.
There, he joined Nick Durandt’s camp. This marked the beginning of his big career in boxing which has taken him to different parts of the world.
4. The 37-Year-Old Boxer Made His Career Breakthrough in 2013
It was in 2008 that Junior Ilunga Makabu started his professional boxing career. His foremost career was not very successful as he ran a loss in a fight with a South African boxer, Khayeni Hlungwane.
His second fight with Elvis Moyo was victorious for him and he won by Total Knock Out (TKO) on September 13, 2008.
Despite the several other victories that Ilunga Makabu enjoyed afterward, his name was not widely known until 2013 when he fought Dmytro Kucher in Monaco.
Prior to the fight that ended in the 12th round, the DR Congo native won 12 fights.
5. Junior Ilunga Makabu’s Net Worth
The 37 years old boxer’s net worth is estimated at $5 million. He has garnered his income mainly from his boxing career.
Over the years, he has fought over 30 professional boxers from different parts of the world which have added to his wealth. Some of the people he has fought are South African boxers Danie Venter and Thabiso Mchunu.
Other people, he has fought that have helped in contributing to his net worth are Russian boxer Alexie Papin, Polish boxer Michal Cieslak, Olanrewaju Durodula, and Tony Bellew.
At the time of this writing, Makabu has the following records
6. Makabu’s Relationship and Children
In an interview, Makabu talked about having a South African wife and also a Congolese wife. One of the wives is named Samantha Makabu while the other is presumably named Stelle Makabu.
Samantha is a mother of 5 boys and she is known for posting and celebrating her spouse on her Instagram page.
Makabu keeps his family out of the spotlight, hence, the exact number of his children is not known, but according to him, he trains his children in boxing.
See Also: Canelo Alvarez Net Worth- How Rich Is He?
7. His Height and Body Measurement
Ilunga Makabu Jr’s height is 6 feet which is an equivalent of 1.8 m. With this height, the South African DR Congolese boxer has a reach of 188 centimeters (74 inches).
His height may be an advantage to his career as a boxer since his reach can go as far as 188cm.
He would mostly have an advantage over shorter boxers since it has been proven that taller boxers usually have a longer reach and can hit from a distance compared to shorter ones. Also, height may make it easier for taller boxers to stay out of their opponent’s punching range.
Regardless of this, there are boxers that Makabu is shorter than. In this scenario, then the taller boxer may have an advantage in reach but may not necessarily win the match.
Comparing his height to the many boxers he competed with, Makabu has fought with people who are taller and shorter than him For instance, from 2019 to 2022, he fought taller boxers such as Alexei Papin, Michal Cieslak, and Olanrewaju Durodola. Interestingly, he won all of those matches.
Well, only Thabiso Mchinu is shorter that the men Makabu fought within the aforementioned years. Yet, Makabu won again.
The 1987-born boxer’s major career loss was against a taller boxer, Tony Bellew who stands at 6 feet 3 inches tall. While there is no certainty that height may have played a vital role since there is also an established premise that Makabu has won fights against taller men, the possibility cannot be totally ruled out.
Away from his height and focusing on his weight, the boxer is of Cruiserweight. This means that his weight limit is 200 pounds – that is about 90.7 kg; 14 st 4.0 lb.
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