By Sean McDaniel: IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko’s trainer Emanuel Steward is very wary of Wladimir’s April 30th opponent, the unbeaten Dereck Chisora (14-0, 9 KO’s), who Wladimir will be facing in Mannheim, Germany in his next fight. In an interview at Sky Sports Ringside, Steward said this about Chisora:

“Chisora is the most dangerous opponent Wladimir will have fought in many years, because Dereck brings energy and confidence and youthfulness that’s different from what we’ve been fighting in recent fights. I think Dereck Chisora is a very tough fight. If it was up to me, I would not fight Dereck. I would prefer to fight with David Haye. But Wladimir has to make the decision. And Wladimir is an honorable man, and he felt that he should fight Dereck, because the way the fight was canceled because of his injury. It’s not Dereck’s fault, so he felt that he had the obligation to fight Dereck because it’s going to be a long time between he and David Haye.”

This is really interesting, because Steward is basically saying here that he feels that Chisora is the more dangerous opponent for Wladimir than Haye is. This runs counter to the belief that most boxing fans feel about seeing Haye as a better fighter than Chisora. There’s few people who feel that Chisora is better than Haye, but here Steward is saying that he would prefer Wladimir to fight Haye than Chisora. Haye definitely has a weak chin and is vulnerable if he gets hit hard. We don’t know how good Chisora’s chin is because the best heavyweights he’s fought were Danny Williams, who Chisora blitzed in a quick 2nd round TKO in May 2010, and Sam Sexton, not a big puncher by any means. We may be finding out how good Chisora’s chin is on April 30th when he’s tested by Wladimir’s left hook and right hand. Steward is likely going to be pushing Wladimir to get Chisora out of there as quick as possible to prevent him from wearing Wladimir down with his relentless pressure and power shots on the inside.