By Barry Holbrook: Underdog Dereck Chisora must get to the heavy favorite Oleksandr Usyk early for him to have a shot at winning on Saturday, says promoter Eddie Hearn.
He says that ‘Delboy’ Chisora (32-9, 23 KOs) has got to let WBO mandatory Usyk (17-0, 13 KOs) know in the first two rounds that he’s going to be in for a war to take some of his confidence away.
According to Hearn, Usyk’s WBO mandatory position will be on the line, which is great news for Chisora because he can potentially earn a title shot against WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua if he wins on Saturday.
Chisora won’t get a title shot right away, though, seeing that Joshua has two fights for next year against Tyson Fury if he wins his next match against Kubrat Pulev on December 12th.
Dereck vs. Usyk will be shown on DAZN in the U.S and Sky Sports Box Office in the UK on Saturday from the Wembley Arena in Wembley, England.
Chisora prepared to go to war
“Listening to David Haye, I think Delboy is the favorite in this fight. He’s that convinced,” said Hearn to IFL TV. “When you step back into reality, you realize he’s fighting a pound-for-pound great in Oleksandr Usyk.
“That’s what he’s got to do. That’s easier said than done. He’s [Chisora] going to lose rounds. He’s going to get pinged everywhere, but he’s got to close the distance.
“I watched Chocolatito the other night against a guy [Israel Gonzalez] that was just moving and moving. You’ve got to hit them anywhere. You got to make him go back to his corner and make him realize that he’s in a war.
“Mentally, Dereck is prepared to eat everything on Saturday night. He’s a tough man. You know how tough Dereck Chisora is. I promise you he will give you every ounce of his soul on Saturday night to try and win,” said Hearn.
A lot of UK boxing fans aren’t too happy with the fact that they need to pay to watch Usyk vs. Chisora on Sky Box Office pay-per-view on Saturday, and it’s not cheap. What riles many fans is that there isn’t a world title on the line between these two heavyweights.
PPV events usually involve a world champion defending a title, but they’re not getting it with Eddie’s card this Saturday. We don’t know if Chisora or Usyk will ever win a world title at heavyweight.
The undercard took a hit with promoter Don King letting Hearn know that heavyweight Chris Lovejoy is still under contract with him on Wednesday. Although Hearn is trying to work a deal with King for Lovejoy to still fight on Saturday’s card against Dave Allen, it’s not looking good.
Hearn hopes Usyk’s WBO mandatory spot carries over
“There’s been a request from David Haye, and I think I agree,” said Hearn when asked if Usyk’s WBO mandatory spot should transfer over to Chisora if he wins.
“If you’ve got a mandatory in Oleksandr Usyk and he chooses to take the fight and gets beat, I think that mandatory should carry over. The winner of Joshua against Pulev is supposed to fight Usyk next.
“It’s a bit like Whyte-Povetkin. The winner of Fury-Wilder was supposed to fight Dillian Whyte, but he got beat. If Usyk gets beat, what’s the timing for that mandatory,” said Hearn.
Usyk’s WBO mandatory spot should carry over, but it might not. You can predict that Usyk’s management will speak up about him losing that spot if he gets beaten on Saturday.
.A big payday is involved with the WBO mandatory position. Usyk obviously won’t enjoy losing to Chisora, but what would hurt far worse is for him to lose the WBO mandatory position.
We’ll have to see what happens with Usyk’s WBO mandatory spot if he loses the fight. It won’t be surprising if Usyk holds onto that, and Chisora winds up with nothing other than being moved up in the World Boxing Organization’s rankings.
Chisora will have to wait for a title shot
“One thing is for sure if Delboy wins, he goes to #1 as the mandatory challenger,” said Hearn. It’s just when that fight takes place, but it would be lovely. It would be awkward because AJ and Chisora love each other.
“They’re close pals. They’d both take the fight, but he has to go through Usyk first. We’ve had a good run with Usyk, and we don’t know if we can deliver him the world championship next or what’s going to happen.
“I’m just going to be honest with everybody. I have a lot of love for Dereck Chisora. We’ve been in some big fights with Delboy.
“He’s had an incredible run, and he does look like he’s in the best condition I’ve seen. You have to say he’s the underdog in the fight. It’s going to be interesting,” said Hearn.
And it’s quite clear that Hearn is pulling for the 36-year-old Chisora to win on Saturday, even though he also co-promotes Usyk. It’s tough for Hearn to stay neutral in a case like this because he’s been with Chisora for a long time.
Chisora doesn’t have much time left in his career, and this might be his last chance to earn a big-money fight before he retires. Also, it would play out bigger in terms of domestic interest if Chisora wins and then takes on Joshua or Tyson Fury down the road. That’s not likely to happen.
The way that Chisora was handled by Agit Kabayel, David Haye, and Kubrat Pulev in losing to them, Usyk should be too much for him on Saturday. Like always, Chisora will have a puncher’s chance.
But if he starts taking too much punishment, his corner may need to step in and do the right thing to preserve his health.