South African cruiserweight champion Thabiso “The Rock” Mchunu returns to the ring on Thursday night for an eight-round bout against the DRC’s Amador Kalonji at the SunBet Arena at Times Square Casino in Pretoria.
Mchunu, 37, enters the fight with a record of 23-8-0, with 13 knockouts. Despite his extensive experience, he admits Kalonji is an unknown quantity.
“I don’t know much about my opponent, Mchunu told Independent Newspapers.
“So, I have to prepare for everything and make the necessary adjustments in the fight. It’s risky for me because I have nothing much to gain but a lot to lose if I don’t perform. This fight is very serious — I have to win convincingly.”
Although Mchunu has fought on major international stages, he heads into Thursday’s clash on the back of three straight defeats — two of which occurred abroad.
His most recent outing was a unanimous decision defeat to Russian Muslim Gadzimagomedov in the bridgerweight division — a higher weight class he was unaccustomed to but took on due to a lack of cruiserweight bouts.
“With my recent fight, I fought in the bridgerweight division, which is a higher weight than cruiserweight,” Mchunu explained. “There are not many cruiserweight fights happening, so I took a risk and faced a world champion. I lost to a good boxer.”
Mchunu, who began boxing at age seven under the guidance of his father — former KZN heavyweight champion Alex Mchunu — still recalls his controversial March 2023 bout with Argentina’s Yamil Alberto Peralta.
The fight, which took place at the Olive Convention Centre in Durban, was for the WBC Silver Cruiserweight title. Mchunu believes he deserved the victory.
“I was unlucky not to get the decision,” he said.
“I believe I won that fight and should’ve been the WBC World Champion. It was taken away from me by the judges.”
Now back in the cruiserweight division, he is eager to reassert himself and push for another shot at a world title.
“I’m happy to be back in a division where I feel comfortable and strong, and I’m going to prove that on Thursday. After this fight, I can challenge any cruiserweight world champion. I’ve been in the top ten and fought the best, including (Oleksandr) Usyk. So after this, I’ll be ready.”
Thursday night’s bout is part of the undercard for Kevin Lerena’s WBC bridgerweight title defense against Ukrainian challenger Serhiy Radchenko. In other undercard fights IBO world welterweight champion Tulani Mbenge take on Emmanuel Mungandjela, while Chris Thompson will take on Mussa Ajibu in an eight round bout.
