On August 24, 2019, a 31-year-old Alexei Papin (11-0, 10 KOs) and a 31-year-old Congolese boxer Ilunga Makabu (25-2, 24 KOs) met in the ring in a cruiserweight bout.
Papin came in to the fight on a 11-fight win streak with a 90% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 2 months and 8 days. Makabu was on a 6-fight win streak with a 88% KO rate, and fighting after a layoff of 2 months and 8 days.
Ilunga Makabu defeated Alexei Papin via majority decision in the 12-round cruiserweight fight. Makabu improves his record to 26-2, while Papin adds a loss to his record at 11-1.