Weights: Chisora 241.8, Pulev 249.1

By Boxing News - 05/06/2016 - Comments

chisora94By Scott Gilfoid: Former world title challenger Dereck Chisora (25-5, 17 KO) went berserk at Friday’s weigh-in for his fight against the 6’4 1/2” former Bulgarian Olympian Kubrat Pulev (22-1, 12 KOs) after someone nailed Chisora with a plastic bottle shortly after he had reached over and shoved Pulev a good one. Chisora then went running through the crowd every which way and looked to me like he’d lost his senses completely.

There’s no word yet whether this latest incident will lead to Chisora being suspended or not. Chisora has had past problems in slapping former WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko during a face off at the weigh-in before their fight in 2012. After losing to Vitali by a wide 12 round points decision loss, Chisora then got into an altercation with David Haye at the post-fight press conference.

Chisora weighed in at 241.8lbs, and Pulev came in at 249.1lbs. The two heavyweights will be fighting for the vacant EBU heavyweight title. Chisora has a good chance of getting a world title shot against IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua if he wins the fight. Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport says he’s hoping Chisora can beat Pulev, because he’s interested in matching him against Joshua for his IBF title in an all UK type of clash.

Unfortunately, Chisora’s chances of beating the much taller and arguably more skilled Pulev aren’t very good. Chisora is a pretty limited fighter who fails each time he steps up against the top tier opposition. Chisora does a great job against the lower level 2nd and 3rd tier fighters, but when he steps it up, he comes up empty.

Chisora has a chance of beating Pulev if he can land one of his rabbit shots that he sometimes accidently throws. If Chisora can get Pulev with a punch to the back of his head, then I think he might be able to get him out of there. The referee would have to let the rabbit punch knockout stand though if that’s where Chisora lands his shots. I don’t see Chisora having a chance of winning the fight at all against Pulev. The size and talent differences between these two heavyweights is just too extreme for the smaller 6’1” Chisora to win this fight in a straight up fight.

“I’ve got fingers crossed that Dereck can beat Pulev and win that European title and if he does, I believe he is a prime candidate to challenge Anthony Joshua if he can get past Dominic Breazeale,” said Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearnt to skysports.com.

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What’s amazing is how many opportunities Chisora gets. I mean, Chisora got thrashed by Tyson Fury in 2014 in getting stopped in the 10th round. In July 2012, David Haye smashed Chisora in stopping him in the 5th round. In February of 2012, a one-armed Vitali Klitschko beat Chisora by a lopsided 12 round decision after injuring his left arm in the 2nd round. In December 2011, a one-armed Robert Helenius beat Chisora by a 12 round decision after suffering a shoulder injury early in the fight.

Other than those fights, Chisora has beaten only poor opposition for the most part. Chisora’s only win over a notable fighter came against fringe contender Malik Scott, when Chisora stopped him with a rabbit punch in the 6th round in July 2013. It’s unclear why the knockout stood because it looked like a clear punch to the back of Scott’s head in the 6th round that caused the knockout.

Of all the contenders in the heavyweight division, you would think that someone else would be more deserving of a world title shot against Joshua than Chisora. There’s a lot of fighters in the division that haven’t had world title shots in their careers, and Chisora has done nothing since losing to Vitali in 2012 other than his win over Malik Scott, which I thought should have been a disqualification for Chisora due to the rabbit shot. Chisora has won his last five fights since his stoppage loss to Fury in 2014, but he’s beaten weak opposition and no one of quality.

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“He’s really up against it in Germany, in a really tough fight,” said Hearn about Chisora facing Pulev. “He said to me ‘when I beat Pulev in Germany, you’ll pay me twice as much as before to fight Joshua,’ and he might well be right,” said Hearn.

I can’t see Chisora beating Pulev on Saturday night unless he lands an accidental rabbit shot. Pulev is too big, too talented and too skilled for Chisora to handle. But if Chisora lands one of his accidental rabbit shot to the back of Pulev’s head, then I could see him scoring a knockout.