By Ian S Palmer
Thabiso Mchunu (16-1, 11 KOs) of South Africa will be defending his NABF Cruiserweight Championship this Saturday afternoon September 20 against Garrett Wilson of Philadelphia from the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut. This 10-round bout will be broadcast live across North America on the NBC network. The 26-year-old Mchunu, a southpaw, will enter the ring with an impressive record of 16-1 with 11 Kos while the 32-year-old Wilson has a 13-7-1 mark with 7 Kos to his name.
Mchunu has won his last two bouts against ‘Fast’ Eddie Chambers and Olanrewaju Durodola while Wilson has lost his last two outings to Vyacheslav Glazkov and Mchunu won the vacant NABF crown by beating Durodola. Wilson is an aggressive fighter who likes to press the action while Mchunu is more of a defensive counterpuncher, but has quite a bit of power and speed in his fists.
Wilson also has decent power in both of his hands and his last three wins have come by the way of knockout. He’s mentally tough and has a solid chin, but isn’t regarded as an elite boxer at this point in his career. Mchunu isn’t really one of the most exciting champions out there and he often tries to sit on a lead when he’s clearly ahead on points. He doesn’t let his hands go enough to entertain the fans.
Wilson’s game plan should be to force Mchunu into fighting him by outworking him every round. However, since he doesn’t have a very good jab Wilson’s going to have to be aware of Mchunu’s counter-punching ability when he moves forward. Wilson needs to keep his punches straight ahead instead of throwing looping and wide shots.
Wilson has faced some good boxers in his career such as Glazkov, Omar Sheika and Alexander Alekseev while Mchunu enjoyed a fine amateur career, but hasn’t really faced many Grade A or B opponents as of yet other than Chambers. Mchunu has better-than-average power, but he’s just as comfortable going the distance as he his recording a knockout. His last stoppage win came two years ago and he may be forced to land some power shots on Wilson to keep him at bay.
When it comes to speed and footwork Mchunu has the edge. He’s always in great shape as is Wilson, and they’re both pretty durable and shouldn’t have any problem going the distance if they need to. Mchunu’s also the more accurate puncher here and he’ll try to keep Wilson from charging forward to the inside where he likes to go to the body. They both have good chins even though they’ve each been stopped once. However, Wilson’s has probably been tested more often.
Wilson’s a typical Philly fighter and would rather this contest turn into a brawl whereas Mchunu would prefer to keep it a boxing match.
Prediction
This bout features a boxer in Mchunu against a brawler in Wilson. If Wilson can press the action and make the South African fight all three minutes of every round then he has a good chance here. Wilson should be able to handle Mchunu’s power, but his boxing skills don’t matchup with the champion’s. If Wilson’s going to win this fight it’s probably going to have to be by knockout. Mchunu should be able to keep his crown though via a relatively close decision.
