Florian Marku and Chris Kongo clash in March
Boxxer and Sky Sports Boxing have announced that Florian Marku and Chris Kongo have agreed to face each other in March.
Something of a grudge match has been building for the past six months between Florian Marku and Chris Kongo and it would seem that it is now to find an outlet in March. Ben Shalom at Boxxer, in conjunction with Sky Sports Boxing, has announced that the two fighters have signed and have a tentative timeline in place.
It all began during the press buildup for Marku’s bout with Dylan Moran in September. Marku was being interviewed when Kongo interrupted. Marku became livid with Kongo and pushed him out of the way, leading to security stepping in to separate the men.
“He wanted to get the eyes of people looking at him. I knew that he wanted that fight,” said Marku to Sky Sports. “I said to him ‘first of all go beat the guys that beat you’, then come and speak to me. He was not going and I pushed him.”
Kongo called Marku a “hothead” and said, “This is what we want, this is what the supporters are asking and we’re going to give it to them. It’s a good one. Now I believe he’s been backed into a corner, he can’t go nowhere now.”
The undefeated Marku went on to knock out Dylan Moran in just 45 seconds in September and says that the same fate awaits Kongo. “He’s going to regret it. He’s going to regret it for sure that he chose to fight me.”
The difference between the two fighters, says Marku, is in their training. “His wish came true. I know that he will be training too much for this fight because that is his most important fight of his life till now. But I have always been training as if it is the most important fight of my life and when we’re in the ring he will understand that.”
The only blemish on Marku’s 13-0-1 record is a controversial draw with Jamie Stewart in a bout that saw Stewart dropped in the second round.
Kongo is 14-2-0 with losses to Michael McKinson for the WBO Global Welterweight title and most recently to Ekow Essuman for the British, Commonwealth, IBF European, and WBC International Silver Welterweight titles.
Marku vs Kongo will be contested at welterweight, and is likely to be on the as-yet-unannounced Boxxer card in Birmingham.