Former Champions, Mankowski, Du Plessis, Collide at KSW 47
Borys Mankowski vs. Dricus Du Plessis set for KSW 47
Former welterweight champions Borys Mankowski (19-7-1) and Dricus Du Plessis (12-2) will finally meet at KSW 47 at the Atlas Arena in Lodz, Poland on March 23.
The pair were originally scheduled to face each other at KSW 41 but a late injury to Du Plessis forced him from the card. It has been a long road since for both fighters. Mankowski lost the title at KSW 41 against late notice replacement Roberto Soldic and has been out due to injury since, while Du Plessis would go on to win and then lose the 170lb crown in two explosive contests against Soldic.
Prior to losing the title Borys Mankowski was the longest reigning welterweight champion in KSW history defending his title against the likes of David Zawada, Jesse Taylor, and John Maguire. ‘The Tasmanian Devil’ also competed opposite Mamed Khalidov in the main event of the historic KSW 39 card in front of almost 60,000 people. Now the 29-year-old will be looking to get back to winning ways and capture the title once again.
However, Dricus Du Plessis will be looking to spoil Mankowski’s return party and work himself back to the title picture. The South African has emerged as one of the top prospects in the world at welterweight. Despite being only 24-years-old he has already become a two-weight EFC champion and established himself as the top ranked P4P fighter from the African continent.
Du Plessis has also already written himself into the KSW history books. His title win over Roberto Soldic at KSW 43 was watched by a record breaking national audience in Poland with 1.3 million average viewers tuning in.
KSW 47 will be headlined by the most physically powerful fight ever in MMA as five-time world’s strongest man Mariusz Pudzianowski (12-6) will square off against Olympic gold medalist powerlifter Szymon Kolecki (6-1) and it will be live around the world on www.KSWTV.com.
