Ilunga Makabu vs Badou Jack Prediction and Odds: WBC World Cruiserweight Title Fight

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This Sunday night, Jake Paul and Tommy Fury will finally settle their prolonged rivalry by stepping into the ring together for eight rounds. However, this is not the only big fight going down this weekend in Saudi Arabia, as Ilunga Makabu and Badou Jack will also fight it out for the WBC World Cruiserweight belt in the co-main event.

Makabu is the defending champion, and will be eager to put Jack on the canvas despite his recent inaction. With two seasoned veterans coming together that both have plenty of power, this should be an excellent encounter to warm up the ring for Paul vs Fury. We breakdown the bookies odds and offer up our suggestions of the best wagers to make ahead of Makabu vs Jack on Sunday night in this betting preview.

Prediction 1

Makabu to Win By Knockout

2/1 (3.00)

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Odds from

Prediction 2

Makabu to Win in Round 5-8

11/2 (6.50)

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Odds from

These odds from Ladbrokes were correct at the time of writing.

Ilunga Makabu vs Badou Jack – Fight Prediction

Contents

1 Ilunga Makabu vs Badou Jack – Fight Prediction
- 1.1 Makabu to Win By Knockout @ 2/1 (3.00)
- 1.2 Makabu to Win in Round 5-8 @ 11/2 (6.50)
2 Ilunga Makabu vs Badou Jack Preview
3 Ilunga Makabu vs Badou Jack Fight Details

Here at Pundit Feed, we love our boxing. Below are two of the best predictions our experts suggest making on this title fight in Saudi Arabia:

Makabu to Win By Knockout @ 2/1 (3.00)

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ilunga Makabu is ahead in the odds for this title fight, and for good reason. He is the defending champion, and has been a force in the cruiserweight division for the last decade. While Jack has iterated between different weight divisions, Makabu has been consistent as a cruiserweight, and should have far too much power for his challenger.

Expect Makabu to end this one with a knockout blow, as he has done in more than 80% of his other fights.

Makabu to Win in Round 5-8 @ 11/2 (6.50)

Something to consider is that Makabu has not fought in over a year, and has only been in the ring four times in the last three years. He’s usually a slow starter anyway, typically finishing a fight around the halfway point. This, plus the boxing nous of Jack mean that while we believe Makabu will finish this, it just may take some time. Round 5-8 feels like the sweet spot here.

Ilunga Makabu vs Badou Jack Preview

With these bets in mind, here’s a look at how each fighter has made it to this bout:

Ilunga Makabu

Debuting in 2008, Makabu is the reigning WBC World Cruiserweight Champion. He won this in 2020 with a win over Michal Cieslak in his home country, part of a strong bounce back from a shock defeat in 2016. Overall, Makabu is 29-2-0 with 25 knockouts. Most recently, he’s had fights cancelled with Canelo Alvarez and Noel Mikaelyan, and last fought in January 2022.

Badou Jack

At 39 years of age, Sweden’s Badou Jack is nearing the end of his boxing career. He’s a former super middleweight champion and secondary light heavyweight champion, but is past his prime. Between 2017 and 2019, Jack went 1-2-2 against some tough opposition, losing his titles and seemingly his killer edge as well. Now, while he’s on a five fight winning streak with an overall record of 27-3-3, Jack looks to be on the way out, with this clash definitely his final swing at a title.