By Ian S Palmer
British heavyweight hopeful Dereck Chisora, who was actually born in Zimbabwe, will be taking on Edmund Gerber of Germany for the vacant European Heavyweight crown in London, England on Saturday September 21. The 29-year-old Chisora will enter the ring with a record of 17-4 along with 11 Kos while the 25-year-old Gerber climbs through the ropes at 23-1 with 14 Kos to his name.
It seems Chisora is still living off of his fight against Robert Helenius of Finland back in 2011. He put up a decent showing, but still came out on the losing end of the decision. He’s also been knocked out by fellow Briton David Haye and dropped unanimous decisions to Tyso Fury and Vitali Klitschko in his other big-name fights and generally isn’t an elite heavyweight no matter how much he claims he is. He also had his license suspended for his ridiculous press-conference antics with Haye following the Klitschko loss in Germany and isn’t much more than a troublemaker for the sport of boxing.
He does have some talent though, but it’s just not enough to compete against the world’s top heavyweights. Fortunately for Chisora he won’t be facing one on Saturday when he takes on Gerber. Chisora usually falls short when he steps up in class and his latest fight was quite controversial. He stopped American Malik Scott in the sixth round in England in July even though Scott managed to get up before the referee had reached the count of 10. Replays clearly showed this and Scott should have been given a rematch or the bout should have been ruled a no contest.
You just never know what you’re going to get in the ring with Chisora. He can be competitive at the best of times and completely outclassed at the worst of times. However, when he is at his best he can be a bit of a handful for most heavyweights with the skill level of Gerber. The German has an impressive record with just one loss on it and he has decent power. He likes to stalk his opponent and possesses a fine jab and fast hands.
He stands 6-foot-3 which will give him a slight edge over the 6-foot 1/12-inch Chisora. Gerber isn’t very mobile though and could end up being a stationary target for Chisora. His only loss was a 10-round decision to journeyman Michael Sprott at home in Germany in December of 2012. Sprott had lost six out of his last seven fights when the two met. However, he did manage to stop Sprott in four rounds three months earlier.
Chisora could be a good heavyweight if he focused on boxing instead of all the extracurricular garbage. He is effective when going to the body on the inside, moving his head and establishing his jab. His power is good enough and he’s pretty good when putting the pressure on. He can sometimes be a little wild and this could cost him some rounds.
This doesn’t really stack up to be a pretty fight. We could see some holding and grabbing and a lot of clubbing punches as Chisora tries to work his way inside. Each boxer has enough power to drop or stop the other, but since this is another hometown bout for Chisora, expect to see him take the vacant title by decision or late stoppage.
