Ilunga Junior Makabu, who is not accorded the recognition he deserves by Africans for being the continent’s only WBC boxing champion, is not defending his cruiserweight title on January 21, the 35-year-old champion said yesterday.

This is contrary to a report on FightNews.com in December, that the SA-based Congolese will put his belt on the line against WBC Silver champion Noel Mikaelyan at the Casino Miami Jai-Alai on January 21.

Makabu’s American promoter Don “Mr 2000 Volts” King is quoted saying: “These are the two best cruiserweights in the world. We are going to give Miami and boxing fans across the country another action-packed boxing card. Makabu will show the world once again why he is number one and Mikaelyan is out to prove he’s the best.”

But Makabu told the Sowetan yesterday: “There is no fight next month, right now I am with my family at home.” The left-handed fighter from Kananga said he had seen the story on FightNews.com, which announced his fight against the 32-year-old Armenian-German who is yet to lose a fight after 26 outings.

“I saw the story and I spoke to my manager about it and he told me that Don King is the one who wrote the story,” said the champion.

“There was no discussion about the fight; we will give you the right story as we go along.” Makabu confirmed he is still contracted to the 91-year-old veteran promoter – the greatest of all time – who was inducted to the International Hall of Fame in 2003.

Makabu’s last fight – his second successful defence against Thabiso “The Rock” Mchunu on January 29 in the US – was staged by King’s Promotions.

The left-handed champion, who was introduced to boxing in SA by trainer Nick “Mthakathi” Durandt in 2008, is trained by the departed mentor’s son Damien “Double D” Durandt in South Africa, while Tarik Saadi from France manages the champion’s prosperous career.

Makabu was last June ranked as the world’s second-best active cruiserweight by BoxRec.com and is also rated No 4 by The Ring Magazine. He has 29 wins and two losses.