On September 16, Kinshasa will host a unification bout in the first heavyweight division between WBC champion Ilunga Makabu (29-2, 25 KOs) and WBA regular champion Riad Merhi (30-1, 25 KOs) from Belgium.
Makabu, in his last appearance in January, defeated Thabiso Mchuna after a controversial points verdict. Merhi last fought in July last year, knocking out Zhaoxin Zhang.
Recently, Macaba was called a possible opponent of Saul Alvarez, but the Mexican has so far abandoned his plans to conquer the first heavyweight. Merhi was supposed to meet with Evgeny Tishchenko in March, but the fight was canceled.
