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20 Facts About Thabiso Mchunu

1.

Thabiso Mchunu was born on 4 March 1988 and is a South African professional boxer.

2.

Thabiso Mchunu has challenged twice for a world title; first in 2016 for the WBO cruiserweight title.

3.

Thabiso Mchunu won the fight on points after four rounds.

4.

Thabiso Mchunu won the vacant title by a ninth-round technical knockout.

5.

Thabiso Mchunu was scheduled to make his first title defense against Sean Santana on 11 July 2008.

6.

Thabiso Mchunu made two more South African title defenses against Ruben Groenewald on 22 January 2009 and Daniel Bruwer on 5 November 2010, as well as a joint South African and Pan African title defense against Soon Botes on 15 May 2009.

7.

Thabiso Mchunu faced Danie Venter for the vacant African cruiserweight title on 10 November 2012.

8.

Thabiso Mchunu made his United States debut against Eddie Chambers on 3 August 2013, as the fight took place at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Montville, Connecticut.

9.

Thabiso Mchunu made his first WBC-NABF title defense against Garrett Wilson on 20 September 2014.

10.

Thabiso Mchunu returned to South Africa for his next bout, as he was booked to face Ilunga Makabu in a twelve-round WBC cruiserweight title eliminator bout on 16 May 2015 at the Convention Centre in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

11.

Thabiso Mchunu challenged the reigning WBO cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk on the Bernard Hopkins vs Joe Smith Jr.

12.

The pace picked up after the first couple of rounds when Usyk began breaking down Thabiso Mchunu, before knocking him out in the ninth round.

13.

Seven months later, Thabiso Mchunu was booked to face Ricards Bolotniks on 23 June 2018, in his return to South Africa, after losing both of his previous United States bouts.

14.

Thabiso Mchunu was next scheduled to fight Thomas Oosthuizen for the vacant African cruiserweight title on 1 November 2018.

15.

Thabiso Mchunu faced the 36-fight veteran Willbeforce Shihepo on 20 October 2019, at the Time Square in Menlyn, South Africa.

16.

Thabiso Mchunu faced the former unified cruiserweight champion Denis Lebedev for the vacant WBC Silver cruiserweight title on 21 December 2019, at the Ivan Yarygin Sports Palace in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.

17.

Thabiso Mchunu's previous fight took place on November 24,2018.

18.

Thabiso Mchunu made his first WBC Silver title defense against the 2016 Olympic gold medalist Evgeny Tishchenko on 27 March 2021, at the RCC Boxing Academy in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in what was the WBC cruiserweight title eliminator as well.

19.

Thabiso Mchunu was scheduled to make his second world title challenge against the reigning WBC cruiserweight champion Ilunga Makabu on January 29,2022, at the Packard Music Hall in Warren, Ohio.

20.

Thabiso Mchunu lost to Muslim Gadzhimagomedov by unanimous decision in a 10 round contest at the International Boxing Centre Luzhniki in Moscow, Russia, on 31 January 2025.