By Scott Gilfoid: The World Boxing Organization has done EBU heavyweight champion Dereck Chisora (19-4, 13 KO’s) a huge favor by elevating him to the #2 spot in their rankings based on pretty much empty wins over Ondrej Pala, Edmund Gerber, Malik Scott and Hector Alfredo Avila.
Chisora is now so close to a title shot against Wladimir that he’s already fighting a guy who he feels has a fighting style similar to him in 6’0″ Andriy Rudenko (24-0, 16 KO’s) on February 1st at the Copper Box Arena in London, UK.
The only problem is Rudenko is a lot short, a lot weaker, a lot slower and a lot less talented than Wladimir. In other words, Rudenko has about as much in common with Wladimir Klitschko as Chisora does. Personally I think it’s a not a fight that is a good one to prepare Chisora for what he’ll be facing if and when he faces Wladimir. I mean, you don’t pick out a guy that is barely 6-feet tall to get ready for a 6’6″ heavyweight like Wladimir.
“Wladimir looks like he’ll be around for a little while longer and I’ve got unfinished business to settle with him, so I want to get to him and finish him off,” Chisora said via ESPN. “So for now, I’m facing the Klitschko clone in Rudenko. This man can punch, he’s gone the last five years knocking everybody out apart from one.”
I have say that Rudenko fights nothing like Wladimir at all. Chisora needs to watch some more of Rudenko’s fights, because he’s more like Alexander Ustinov with his fighting style and his physical build. Rudenko holds his hands down by his sides like Ustinov, he throws punches like him, and he’s flabby like Ustinov. At 6’0″, 250+, Rudenko is chubby looking and nothing like Wladimir. I’m disappointed with Chisora for making such a silly comparison. In watching some of Rudenko’s fights on Youtube, what jumps out at you is how he lacks power and he’s easy to hit. Rudenko loads up with everything he throws and is constantly head hunting, but he’s definitely not a big puncher.
If the WBO makes Chisora fight for the mandatory spot against Andy Ruiz or Deontay Wilder, then Chisora can forget about Wladimir altogether. The fact that Chisora is already training for a guy, he thinks is similar to Wladimir leaves me with the impression that Chisora thinks he’ll get the mandatory spot by the WBO with him not having to fight for it. I don’t think that’s how it works. Alex Leapai, the current WBO mandatory, had to fight Denis Boytsov to get the mandatory position. Now that Boytsov is out of the picture, Andy Ruiz has moved up to the #3 spot by the WBO, which means that Chisora will need to be able to beat him to become Wladimir’s mandatory.
Believe me, Ruiz will knock Chisora out when that fight takes place. As such, instead of Chisora fighting so-called Klitschko clones, he needs to be fighting clones of Andy Ruiz to try to get ready for the devastating power shots he’s going to be nailing Chisora with. I would hope that Chisora would agree to fight Ruiz if the WBO orders that fight, but who knows? Maybe Chisora will choose to not take the fight and instead hope that he can get lucky and land an optional title defense, which probably isn’t going to happen in this lifetime for Chisora.
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