Boxing Results: Oleksandr Usyk defeats Dereck Chisora by 12-round decision

By Boxing News - 10/31/2020 - Comments

By Charles Brun: As many predicted, Oleksandr Usyk (18-0, 13 KOs) took the aging journeyman Dereck Chisora (32-10, 23 KOs) to school and dominated him in winning a 12 round unanimous decision to retain his WBO mandatory status at the Wembley Arena in Wembley, UK.

Usyk showed a good chin in taking some big shots from Chisora, but he handled them well and stuck to his boxing to win a decisive victory.

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The judges scored it e 117-112, 115-113, and 115-113. Of those scores, 117-112 was the one that came the closest to the way the fight played out. Chisora had nothing left in the gas tank after the first quarter of the fight, as he couldn’t keep up with the fast pace that Usyk, 33, set.

Dereck looked good initially

Chisora did the better work through the first four rounds, but only because Usyk checked out what he had. We saw the same thing from Usyk in his fights against American Michael Hunter and British fighter Tony Bellew.

Image: Boxing Results: Oleksandr Usyk defeats Dereck Chisora by 12-round decision

In those contests, Usyk, 6’3″, took it easy in the first four rounds, studying his opponents while giving away rounds. When Usyk finally understood what he needed to do to defeat them, he turned up the heat and dominated the remainder of the contest.

Usyk’s power didn’t look great, but he made up for it with his accuracy and ring movement. He’s someone that can wear out the bigger heavyweights and dominate them at will when he’s motivated.

In the World Series of Boxing, Usyk had problems against Mihai Nistor and Joe Joyce with their size, power, and nonstop pressure.

In the pro ranks, Usyk doesn’t need to worry about anyone with that type of fighting style. Yeah, I know Joyce is fighting professionally, but he’s put on a lot of weight, and he’s very slow. He would be no competition for Usyk now.

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Chisora was fighting on fumes by the 5th

Tonight it was easier because Chisora was completely gassed from the fifth round on, and he only partially got his second wind in the eleventh. That was a round in which Usyk took it easy on Dereck, a fighter that he personally likes.

The question is, did Usyk purposefully take it easy on Chisora and carry him through the championship rounds out of respect for him? You can make a very, very good argument. That’s what Usyk did.

Image: Boxing Results: Oleksandr Usyk defeats Dereck Chisora by 12-round decision

He fought like he wasn’t trying to knock Chisora out, and he could have because he had Chisora hurt in the 9th round and ready to go. If Usyk had gone for the coup de grace in the 10th, he surely would have knocked Chisora out, but he took it easy on his friend and foe.

We can agree that Usyk carried Chisora in the last three rounds out of admiration and respect for him. Believe me, if Usyk had pushed it, Chisora would have been counting stars, wondering where in the heck he is.

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Dereck lacked the cardio to win

In hindsight, if Chisora had worked more on his stamina during training camp rather than on developing his muscles, he’d have stood a better chance of earning a draw if not a win. But he showed that he doesn’t possess the cardio needed for him to beat a fighter like Usyk.

Other than the first four rounds in which Usyk, 33, was downloading information, Chisora was completely overmatched in the last eight rounds of the contest.

Image: Boxing Results: Oleksandr Usyk defeats Dereck Chisora by 12-round decision

The good news from this fight is that there’s no need to worry about whether the World Boxing Organization will agree to transfer over the WBO mandatory spot from Usyk to Chisora. That was a concern that Chisora’s manager David Haye and promoter Eddie Hearn had going into the match tonight.

I guess we’ll never know for sure if the WBO would have made Chisora the new mandatory if he’d won. It’s all academic at this point that Usyk held onto his #1 spot with the WBO, and Chisora has to go back to the drawing board and figure out how to come back from this.

Is this the end for Delboy?

So the question is, where does Chisora go from here? Well, given that he’s still popular in the UK and a pay-per-view fighter on Sky Box Office, he’s not done yet.

Image: Boxing Results: Oleksandr Usyk defeats Dereck Chisora by 12-round decision

Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn will find a decent opponent to bring Chisora back against in early 2021, and he can get a nice payday in a headliner spot on Sky Box Office PPV.

Dave Allen would be a perfect opponent for Chisora to fight next. Allen was moaning about losing out on his opponent for this weekend, Christopher Lovejoy. Chisora would be a great option for Allen in early 2021.

 

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