Gadzhimagomedov vs Mchunu set for Jan. 31

A pointless title will be on the line when Olympic silver medalist Muslim Gadzhimagomedov steps up in class against longtime cruiserweight standout Thabiso Mchunu in a couple of weeks

In another case of “good fight in bizarre circumstances,” WBA “bridgerweight” champ Muslim Gadzhimagomedov will meet former cruiserweight standout Thabiso Mchunu in a January 31st IBA Champions’ Night main event.

These shows generally air live on the IBA’s YouTube page.

Gadzhimagomedov (5-0, 3 KO) was supposed to fight former Olympic rival Julio Cesar La Cruz in December, but I cannot for the life of me find any information on what happened to that plan. The former world amateur champion and Tokyo silver medalist will instead meet someone with significantly greater professional credentials in Mchunu (23-7, 13 KO), an incredibly adept but deeply unlucky veteran whose only losses since 2017 came via split or majority decision.

Most egregious was his 2022 split decision defeat to Ilunga Makabu, which would have netted him the WBC title. Like I said, put the chicanery aside and it’s a good matchup, a huge step up for Gadzhimagomedov against an aging but still capable standout.

Undefeated Russian heavyweight Artem Suslenkov (12-0, 9 KO) sees action against “Big Jack” Mulowayi (15-3-1, 11 KO), who picked up a notable upset of Apti Davtaev in 2021 but otherwise spends most of his time crushing tomato cans in Belgium amidst losses to Frank Sanchez and Bakhodir Jalolov.