Chisora: I’m going to knockout Usyk 

By Boxing News - 03/13/2020 - Comments

By Jim Maltzman: Dereck Chisora is planning on hitting former undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk everywhere he can to knock him out in their fight on May 23 at the O2 Arena in London. Chisora (32-9, 23 KOs) isn’t limiting his shots to the head of the elusive 2012 Olympic gold medalist Usyk since he’s not easy to hit with clean headshots.

(Photo credit: Matchroom Boxing/Mark Robinson)

Usyk-Chisora will be shown in the States on DAZN and in the UK on Sky Box Office.

A lot of fans believe that Chisora has got the goods to deal Usyk (17-0, 13 KOs) his first career defeat when they step inside the squared circle on the 23rd of May. If Chisora can beat Usyk, he’ll likely be given his WBO mandatory spot to challenge World Boxing Organization heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua for his title in 2020 or 2021. Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn says he’s going to check with the WBO to confirm whether Chisora, 36, will be made the new WBO mandatory if he defeats Usyk.

Chisora vows to KO Usyk

“I’m going to knock him out. My whole point is to knock his lights out,” said Chisora to Sky Sports News on his fight against Usyk. “I’m going to hit him everywhere I can hit him. His hands, his shoulders, his body, his nose, everywhere. All I’m saying is this will be one of the best fights in the last 10 years. You’ll see,” said Chisora on his fight with Usyk.

Chisora looked good recently in stopping David Price and Artur Szpilka. Dereck’s punching power is as good as ever, and he’s a threat to Usyk if he can get to him with his big shots. In Usyk’s heavy debut against Chazz Witherspoon, he was hit a number of times by him. Witherspoon isn’t a big puncher, so Usyk got off easy in that fight.

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Usyk not worried about Chisora’s knockout threat

“Normally I face this kind of plan every fight,” said Usyk to Sky Sports in responding to a comment by Chisora about how he wants to knock him out. “If you want to hit a target, you need to see a target because you can throw as many punches as you can, but you need to land them into the target,” said Usyk.

It sounds like Usyk is going to use a lot of movement to keep Chisora from landing his power shots.  Usyk needs to be alert to the fact that he’s going to have a lot of eyes on him on May 23, and he’s going to impress. Running around the ring for 12 rounds is going to upset a lot of fans if Usyk fights like that.

Chisora vows to KO Usyk

“The difficult thing about this fight was the date, and keeping Dereck Chisora sane while he was waiting for a date,” said Hearn to IFL TV. “When he finished his last fight against David Price, David Haye got him straight into the gym.

“Originally we were going to go in February, then we were going to go on March the 7th, then we were going to go on March the 28th. March the 28th was a solid date. I’m glad Marth the 28th wasn’t a solid date. I’d much rather go on May 23rd.

“Chisora has been waiting a long time for this, and he lost a bit of patience in between. Obviously, Usyk is the WBO mandatory as well. So he’s got to make sure he wins this fight to maintain that position. This is a massive heavyweight fight,” said Hearn.

“More people are stopping me that know their boxing saying ‘I fancy Chisora in this fight.’ Skillwise, Chisora isn’t one the same planet [as Usyk], but up at heavyweight, this is the ultimate test for Usyk,” said Hearn. “How good is he? Can he go on to become an undisputed champion, and that’s what we don’t know,” said Hearn.

We don’t know how good Usyk is at heavyweight because he’s only had one fight in the division. He did NOT look good against Witherspoon, and that was against a faded older fighter.

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Chisora could earn WBO mandatory spot

“May 23rd will give us all the answers we need, and if Chisora can go on and do the business against Usyk, then he’ll probably go on and become the mandatory for the WBO. Maybe he’ll fight Anthony Joshua down the line, but this will be one of the big upsets of heavyweight boxing,” said Hearn.

“David Haye and Dereck Chisora really fancy it. We’ve written to the WBO to say ‘what is the situation?’ Usyk is #1. So if Dereck beats him, then probably he’s going to be #1. Does he inherit that mandatory position? That’s a decision for the WBO. So we will certainly be saying to the WBO and so will David Haye, ‘We want the winner of this fight [Usyk vs. Chisora] to be mandatory because we now Usyk is.

“That’s why there’s so much on the line in this fight, and there’s so much risk for Oleksandr Usyk. So we’ll have to see,” said Hearn.

It makes sense for Chisora to be named the new WBO mandatory if he beats Usyk, but it’ll be up to the WBO. Chisora would have to beat someone like Joseph Parker or Andy Ruiz Jr.

Hearn to beef up Usyk-Chisora card

“We’re in discussions at the moment,” said Hearn when asked what undercard fights he’s got or the Usyk vs. Chisora card. “We’ve got two championship fights so far, a couple of big heavyweight fights, and I plan on announcing those in the next 48 hours.

“Again, one eye on March 28th particularly and Josh Kelly, Conor Benn, and Joshua Buatsi if anything was to happen on that show. Big plans for this card [Usyk-Chisora], and I think it’ll end up being a huge night with other things probably added on that were unexpected as well,” said Hearn.

“But May 23rd is going to be a BANGER. A big card planned, and it’s probably going to be the biggest card I’ve ever done, especially if events get canceled because I’ll have to bolt everything else on here. So I think this is going to work out well. Just under 11 weeks to go and a huge fight,” said Hearn.

If the March 28th Josh Kelly vs. David Avanesyan card is canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, then a number of the fights on that card could wind up on the Usyk vs. Chisora card on May 23. We could see Kelly-Avanesyan, Joshua Buatsi and Conor Benn added to the May 23rd card. It would be a HUGE card if those fighters are added to it.

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