By Scott Gilfoid: If #13 WBC heavyweight contender Dillian Whyte (19-1, 15 KOs) gets his way, he’ll be sending #14 WBC Dereck Chisora (26-6, 18 KOs) into a permanent retirement when the two of them fight each other on December 10 on the undercard of the Anthony Joshua vs. Eric Molina card on Sky Box Office Pay-per-view at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.
The Whyte-Chisora fight is a World Boxing Council heavyweight eliminator, which is kind of interesting given that they’re both little more than bottom rated fringe contenders at best in the WBC’s rankings.
Whyte and Chisora met on Thursday for their press conference to announce their fight on December 10 at the Manchester Arena.
Whyte had this to say about Chisora as quoted by Sky Sports News –
“For this fight, I’m not looking to go to points, I’m looking to put a stop to Dereck Chisora’s career,” said Whyte. “He’s been nicking a living out of boxing and I think a lot of people want to see an end to him now. I’m looking forward to seeing him down on Thursday, collecting the bins in my neighborhood after I put the beat down on him.”
I don’t see the 32-year-old Chisora retiring off of a loss to Whyte. There are too many 2nd and 3rd tier guys that Chisora can still beat to pump his resume back up if he loses to Whyte. I mean, look at how Chisora rebuilt his career after his losses to Vitali Klitschko, David Haye and Tyson Fury. In each case, Chisora would go back to the 2nd tier circuit and pick up wins over weak opposition to get himself back on the winning track and ranked in the top 15. We’ve seen Chisora beat guys like Andras Csomor (14-8-1), Jakov Gospic (16-13), Marcelo Luiz Nasimento (20-10), Beka Lobjanidze (13-3), and Hector Alfredo Avila (20-12-1).
With an unlimited supply of 2nd and 3rd tier fighters at Chisora’s disposal, I see him rebuilding his career over and over again after each loss. At some point, I suppose the sanctioning bodies will stop ranking Chisora in their top 15 if he can no longer beat any of the top 15 contenders. Just when that will happen is anyone’s guess.
Look at 44-year-old Shannon Briggs. He’s fighting Lucas Browne for the vacant WBA ‘regular’ heavyweight title now, and he’s not beaten a quality fighter in nine years since his win over Siarhei Liahovich in 2007. Chisora’s last win over a contender was three years ago in 2013, when he beat fringe contender Edmund Gerber by a 5th round knockout. That was a good year for Chisora, because he also beat Malik Scott by a 6th round knockout.
Chisora was recently beaten by former heavyweight world title challenger Kubrat Pulev by a 12 round split decision last May in Germany. Chisora fought Pulev for the vacant European Boxing Union heavyweight title. I don’t think the fight should have been scored a split decision though. I saw the fight and had Pulev winning by an 118-110 score. I’m not sure which fight the judge was watching who scored it for Chisora by a 115-113 score. Thankfully, there were two other judges that scored the fight in Pulev’s favor, because it would have been bad news if Chisora was given a win in that fight given how one-sided it was.
“Dereck is deluded as everyone knows,” said Whyte. “He thought he was going to go over to Germany and KO Kubrat Pulev. He went out there and stank the place out. He showed no ambition and heart in that fight. All he did was come forward and keep getting hit in his face all night long, and the same thing is going to happen again. But this fight, I’m definitely looking to knock him out.”
Whyte is correct about Chisora showing zero ambition in the Pulev fight. He fought like he wasn’t motivated. It was the same uninspired look that Chisora had in his two losses to Tyson Fury. Chisora looked like he stopped trying after the 1st round. That’s why it was strange that one judge had Chisora beating Pulev. I don’t know how he could come up with that score given how poorly Chisora fought.
If Chisora fights hard for 12 rounds, he might be able to beat Whyte. I doubt it though. I see Chisora winding up quitting or having the fight stopped on him by his corner like with the Whyte vs. Ian Lewison fight. Whyte stopped Lewison in the 10th round. The fight was competitive through the first four rounds. Lewison seemed to tire in the second half of the fight, and he took a lot of punishment. For Chisora to beat Whyte, he’ll need to fight at a fast pace for the full 12 rounds, and not get discouraged if things are going in Whyte’s favor.
The best way to beat Whyte is to put pressure on him and force him to fight hard for three minutes of every round for seven or eight rounds. Whyte gets tired, and is then beatable. I just don’t know if Chisora will be able to fight like that for 12 rounds. I can see him fighting hard for maybe 4 rounds, and then giving up like he did against Pulev.
“When we are talking about fighting, this is the god honest truth,” said Chisora via skysports.com. “When Dillian came on the circuit, he was doing kickboxing, he was raw. He was good; he had the no fear factor. Every time we sparred I knew he would bring it for three or four rounds and then after that I would take over.”
The winner of the Whyte vs. Chisora fight will be in line to fight WBC champion Deontay Wilder. They’ll also have a chance to fight IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in 2017 if his promoter Eddie Hearn wants to make the fight at that time. A rematch between Whyte and Joshua is going to happen, because their previous fight last year was too exciting for the first two rounds for there not to be a rematch. However, Whyte must keep winning for the rematch to take place.
