By Scott Gilfoid: British heavyweight champion Dillian Whyte (19-1, 15 KOs) wants to KO #14 Dereck Chisora 26-6, 18 KOs) in their fight on December 10 on the undercard of the Anthony Joshua vs. Eric Molina card at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. #13 WBC Whyte and Chisora will be fighting in a World Boxing Council heavyweight title eliminator on December 10.
The winner becomes the mandatory challenger to WBC champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder. It’s unclear why fighters ranked as low as Chisora and Whyte are fighting in a WBC title eliminator. It makes more sense for higher ranked guys to be in an eliminator.
I’m trying to figure out why the WBC is letting bottom dwellers fight in an eliminator rather than the many contenders ranked above them. I’m just saying.
The 28-year-old Whyte says he’s given the 32-year-old Chisora beatings in the pat during sparring sessions with one another. Whyte doesn’t say when these sparing sessions took place. Was it before or after he had surgery on his left shoulder? If it was before the surgery, then it’s not surprising that Whyte got the better of Chisora during sparring, because Whyte used to have a really good left hook. But ever since he had shoulder surgery to repair an injury, he’s not punched with the same authority. It’s unclear whether Whyte will be able to regain the power that he once had in his shoulder. Whyte no longer is able to use his left shoulder for knockout shots like he used to.
“I sparred with him years ago and put the beat down on him then when I had no experience, so probably there’s been ill feelings since then,” Whyte said to skysports.com. “I think this is last chance saloon for him, so I’m expecting him to come and fight, and for the best Dereck Chisora to show up on December 10 – the best one there has ever been. I’m looking to knock Dereck Chisora out.”
Chisora didn’t look so great in losing to Kubrat Pulev by a 12 round split decision last May in their fight for the vacant EBU heavyweight title. Chisora was outclassed by the 35-year-old Pulev, who did little more than to trhow jabs all night long in dominating Chisora. The 6’3” Whyte isn’t quite as tall as the 6’4 ½” Pulev, and he doesn’t have as good as jab as him, but he probably has a good enough right hand to do the job on Chisora.
I can’t see Whyte knockout out Chisora with his right hand shots, because he doesn’t have the kind of punching power needed to do a job against him. However, Tyson Fury was able to get Chisora to quit simply by slapping him around for 10 rounds. If Whyte is able to throw a lot of shots with his right hand, he could get Chisora to quit against him too.
It would be nice if Whyte were able to use his left hook to do damage to him, but based on how he looked in his last fight against Ian Lewison last October, I don’t see Whyte being able to use his left hand to hurt Chisora. He still hasn’t regained the strength in his left hand since his shoulder surgery. Its been almost a year since the surgery. It’s unclear whether Whyte will be able to get his power back. In looking at Whyte’s fights before the shoulder surgery and his fights after, it’s like night and day. He’s a completely different fighter since he injured his left shoulder.
“Dereck Chisora is the most one-dimensional, predictable fighter in the whole of boxing history. Even a journeyman shows a bit more class and is less predictable,” said Whyte.
Chisora did win his last fight against Drazan Janjanin in stopping him in the 2nd round last September. Before that fight, Chisora was beaten by Pulev last May. The loss for Chisora snapped a five-fight winning streak since his loss to Fury in 2014. Chisora has also suffered previous losses to David Haye, Fury, Robert Helenius and former World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko in 2012.
It would be impressive news if Chisora can beat Whyte to become the mandatory challenger to WBC champion Deontay. Talk about an unlikely turn of events. By beating Whyte to get a crack at a world title against Wilder, Chisora would show that it doesn’t matter if you lose. If you’ve got a promoter putting you constantly in the right fights, losses don’t matter. The winner of the Whyte-Chisora fight is going to have tons of problems trying to beat the 6’7” Wilder, because he’s got too much power, too good of a jab, too much mobility and dare I say too much talent.
Honestly, I don’t think Chisora deserves to be fighting in an eliminator bout for a world title fight. I think there are a lot more qualified contenders in the WBC’s top 15 rankings rather than Chisora. For example, #15 WBC Jarrell Miller should be fighting in an eliminator bout, because he’s undefeated and has been looking incredible lately. It’s sad that unbeaten talents like Miller go ignored while fighters that have already been beaten get chance after chance.