By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten WBC Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury of England will be defending his title against Dereck Chisora of Zimbabwe at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England this Saturday, December 3rd. The 12-round bout can be seen in North America on ESPN+while fans in the UK can catch it on BT Sport Box Office pay-per-view. Fury last fought in April when he stopped Dillian Whyte in the sixth round while Chisora last saw action in July when he beat Kubrat Pulev via an exciting 12-round split decision. This is the third meeting between Fury and Chisora with Fury winning by 12-round unanimous decision in 2011 to retain the British and Commonwealth Heavyweight Titles and then stopping Chisora after 10 rounds in 2014 to retain his British, European and WBO International belts.
The 34-year-old Fury of Manchester, will also be defending the lineal title on Saturday night as well as the WBC Crown. Other than his trilogy against Deontay Wilder, Fury has achieved just one other true moment of glory as a pro boxer and that came in November, 2015 when he upset Wladimir Klitschko by unanimous decision to win the IBF, WBO, IBO, WBA and lineal world titles. However, it was arguably the worst heavyweight title fight in history. After beating Klitschko, Fury was soon stripped of his belts and suspended for drug use, but still does lay claim to the lineal heavyweight crown.
Fury is one of the bigger heavyweights out there as he stands 6-feet-9-inches tall with a wingspan of 85 inches. He’ll enter the ring with a mark of 32-0-1 with 23 Ko’s and has 210 rounds under his belt since turning pro in 2008 following a good amateur career. He has better-than-average power, with a current knockout ratio of 69.7 per cent but has gone the distance in four of his last nine outings. Fury possesses good, but awkward and unconventional boxing skills and has been been dropped by Steve Cunningham, Neven Pajkic and Wilder during his career which makes his chin a slight question mark.
Fury’s biggest wins were definitely against Wilder and Klitschko but Klitschko basically gave his titles away by not engaging with him. Other than that, he’s beaten some pretty good journeymen along the way such as Whyte, Francesco Pianeta, Otto Wallin, Christian Hammer, Joey Abell, Cunningham, Kevin Johnson, Marcelo Luiz Nascimento and Vinny Maddalone. Since turning pro Fury has also captured the English, Commonwealth, British, Irish, European, WBO Inter-Continental and WBO International Heavyweight Titles.
The 38-year-old Chisora also fights out of England and climbs into the ring with a mark of 33-12 with 23 Ko’s. Along with losing twice to Fury, he was beaten twice by Dillian Whyte as he was stopped in the 11th round of a slugfest in December, 2018 and dropped a 12-round split decision to him two years earlier. And most recently, he lost for the second time to former heavyweight titleholder Joseph Parker as he dropped a 12-round unanimous decision in December after losing a solit decision to him seven months earlier.
His other losses came via a fifth-round TKO to David Haye in 2012, a unanimous decision to world champ Vitali Klitschko five months earlier and a 12-round split decision to Robert Helenius three months before that for three straight defeats. Chisora was also beaten by Kubrat Pulev in May, 2017 and by Agit Kabayel via a majority decision in November, 2017 and dropped a unanimous decision to Oleksandr Usyk in October, 2020.
Chisora stands just over 6-feet-1-inch tall and has a 74-inch wingspan which sees him give up eight inches in height and 11 inches in reach to Fury. Chisora may be more skilled than people give him credit for as he can throw decent combinations when he’s in a rhythm but often leaves himself exposed to counter shots. His biggest wins have been over the likes of Artur Szpilka, Carlos Takam, Malik Scott and Kevin Johnson.
As a pro, Chisora has captured the WBA International and WBO International, WBA Inter-Continental and British Heavyweight Titles. He has plenty of experience against top-notch opposition but has usually fallen short when stepping up in class with the exception being against Takam and Pulev. He’s boxed 304 rounds since turning pro in 2007 and owns a 51.1 per cent knockout ratio. When he’s motivated he can be pretty exciting by giving and taking all night long and can be a handful for anybody on the world stage but he sometimes runs out of steam as the fight goes on.
Prediction…
It’s hard to predict heavyweight fights these days as most boxers have the power to alter the course of a fight stop with just one punch and this is no exception. The difference with Fury though is that when he gets dropped he usually gets back up. Chisora would need to make sure this isn’t the case if he does happen to deck him. It’s hard to envision Chisora outboxing Fury due to the size and skill differential so his only hope really is to stop him or at least knock him down a few times. Fury generally prefers to stay away from firefights if possible though as he’s always at risk if he stands his ground and goes toe-to-toe. In a way though, his chin has probably helped him perfect his movement and boxing skills but he’s always vulnerable to a flush power punch. Chisora will need to throw caution to the wind and land as many heavy shots as he can or he’ll simply be outboxed. It’s easier said than done though against Fury. Anything could happen here but Fury is definitely more likely to emerge as the winner.
