Denis Lebedev Return Foiled by Thabiso Mchunu
Former WBA “Super” cruiserweight champion Denis Lebedev (32-2, 23ko) comes out of his short-lived retirement five months later to fight against former title contender Thabiso Mchunu (21-5, 13ko) for the vacant WBC silver title. The 40-year-old Russian fighter announced his retirement via social media after negotiations to defend the title against Arsen Goulamirian never materialized back in July 2019.
TOO MUCH TIME OFF
Lebedev was coming off a long layoff heading into this fight. He was last in the ring back on November 24, 2018 against relatively unknown Mike Wilson. Furthermore, his body definitely showed signs of an aged fighter looking soft in the mid-section.
Mchunu, who recently fought in October, was in more prime condition. Realizing this, he immediately tested to see if ring rust and the soft belly would factor into the outcome. Unfortunately for the former champion, it clearly would.
The veteran challenger came out establishing the jab, going to the body and landing crisp counter-straight left-hand shots. This attack would keep the former champion off balance and made him gun-shy.
In the third there was a cut over the eye of the veteran fighter. The ref ruled it an accidental clash of heads and without any warning, took one point away from Lebedev.
As the fight would go on, the veteran fighter’s confidence grew as he stood in the pocket working combinations to the body and head. He took clear advantage of the former champion’s lack of timing and slow hands. It became apparent this wasn’t the same Lebedev, but instead a shell of himself. Even with the home crowd trying to motivate him by cheering, he could never get anything going.
There was a controversial moment at the beginning of the eleventh round. One of the judges never turned in a scorecard for the previous round. However, in the ring, nothing had changed. Mchunu started to bully his counterpart on the inside with body shots, followed by a beautiful catch-and-shoot combination. He also found a home for that leaping right-hook, basically doing whatever he wanted up until the final bell sounded.
CONCLUSION
Mchunu became the new WBC silver cruiserweight titlist as all three judges scored it 120-107, 119-108 and 115-112. That last scorecard made it appear closer than it seemed. Nonetheless, the right man won.
Lebedev may want to consider retirement again. It’s apparent he can no longer pull the trigger nor compete on a high level. Boxing is a sport where father time sends a painful message and this fight made it loud and clear.
By: Garrisson Bland
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