By Tim Royner: Oleksandr Usyk is open to facing British heavyweight Dereck Chisora while he waits for the smoke to clear from the December 7th rematch between Andy Ruiz Jr. and Anthony Joshua. Usyk’s manager Egis Klimas says they’re willing to take the Chisora fight while they’re waiting to challenge for the WBO world title.
If Joshua beats Ruiz, his next fight is expected to be against IBF mandatory Kubrat Pulev. If Ruiz wins, he’s already said he wants to fight Usyk. Ruiz likes that fight a lot, and you can’t blame him. He’s faster, bigger, stronger and better combination puncher than Usyk. Ruiz’s fighting style would give Usyk huge problems. Usyk struggled in the amateur ranks when he fought against combination punchers. Usyk’s wins over Artur Beterbiev were controversial in the amateurs, and he looked bad in those fights.
Usyk vs. Chisora would be a 50-50 fight. While a lot of boxing fans are high on Usyk, he didn’t look good in his last two fights against Chazz Witherspoon and Tony Bellew.
Those are both guys that Chisora would be a HEAVY favorite against. Usyk struggled in both fights at times, and didn’t show the ability to dominate either. This would be a great opportunity for Chisora to put himself into a world shot by beating Usyk.
Usyk (17-0, 13 KOs) is mandatory for the World Boxing Organization title that’s now in Ruiz’s possession. However, he can’t fight for that title right now at this moment while Ruiz is scheduled to face Joshua next month.
Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn thinks that the winner of the Joshua-Ruiz fight will vacate the WBO title. If that happens, then Usyk could become the WBO champion simply by facing Chisora (32-9, 23 KOs) in a stay busy fight.
Usyk’s manager Klimas says Chisora is good fight
“We don’t know what happens on December 7. But if it is possible to fight in between and not to wait for another six months, I think Chisora will be a good fight for Usyk,” said Oleksandr’s manager Egis Klimas to skysports.com.
“Some belts may become vacant,” said Hearn to Sky Sports about the IBF or WBO being vacated by the Joshua vs. Ruiz rematch winner. Ruiz says he wants to defend against Usyk. However, if the IBF and WBO are unable to agree on which of the two mandatory defenses are due next.
Usyk, 32, will be looking at six months or more before he finally challenges for a world title after the Joshua-Ruiz rematch. Six months is a long time for a fighter Usyk’s age, especially since he’s not had any real experience at heavyweight.
Oleksandr’s fight against 38-year-old Chazz Witherspoon last October can hardly be counted as experience at heavyweight. Witherpoon is an old guy that left his prime behind 11 years ago in 2008.
Usyk would earn respect by facing Chisora
Matchroom Boxing will likely make the Usyk vs. Chisora fight pay-per-view on Sky Box Office, and that means both guys will get big paydays.
Chisora has fought against the best, and he’s shown that he’s still fighting at a high level. Usyk has no experience at heavyweight, and it would be a big risk for him to take on Chisora.