By Jim Dower: British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion Derek Chisora (14-0, 9 KO’s) signed the contract to fight IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (55-3, 49 KO’s) on Monday for a fight that will be taking place on December 11th at the SAP-Arena, Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, according to boxing news from Dan Rafael.
Klitschko, 34, has decided to pick the inexperienced and largely untested 26-year-old Chisora to fight because he’s probably the 2nd or 3rd best heavyweight in the UK and there are really not too many interesting heavyweights that are currently available to fight Wladimir. Chisora’s biggest fights up until now have come against B level opposition in his wins over Danny Williams and Sam Sexton.
Chisora may have caught Wladimir’s attention with his 9th round stoppage of Sexton on the Magnificent Seven card on September 18th. Chisora looked good in taking out a highly skilled Sexton with a flurry of hard shots on the inside in the 9th round of that meeting.
Klitschko had this to say about Chisora: “I know that Dereck Chisora is a very dangerous opponent. He’s young, he’s fast and he’s a very hard puncher. My coach, Emanuel Steward, has warned me about Chisora’s quality and reminded me about the great Muhammad Ali, who lost his championship in 1978 to Leon Spinks in his eighth professional fight. I won’t underestimate Chisora. I will prepare myself as intensely as I always do and try to give Chisora no chance.”
Klitschko should be alright as long as he keeps the 6’1” Chisora on the outside where he’s pretty limited. Chisora is kind of short and stocky, and he lacks arm length. Chisora is most dangerous when he’s able to crowd his opponents and let loose with flurries. He hits hard and tends to throw a lot of punches. However, he seems to lack the same kind of power that some of Klitschko’s past opposition has possessed.
I would rate Chisora well below fighters like Corrie Sanders, Ross Purity, Samuel Peter and Lamon Brewster in terms of punching power. However, he does appear to punch hard enough to get Wladimir out of there if he’s able to establish a footing on the inside against the large Ukrainian. That’s probably not going to happen because Wladimir mainly fights on the outside and he likes to tie up his opponents when they get near to him.
Chisora isn’t fast, and clearly Wladimir is flattering the guy by saying he is. Wladimir should be able to chop him down from the outside with jabs, hooks and right hands for an easy title defense.
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