By Ian S Palmer
There’s a big British heavyweight clash scheduled for the O2 Arena in London, England this Saturday, October 26th when Dereck Chisora takes on David Price. The 12-round bout can be seen on DAZN in North America while fans in the UK can catch it on Sky Box Office. Chisora last fought in July when he stopped Artur Szpilka in the second round while Price stopped David Allen after 10 rounds for the vacant WBA Continental Heavyweight Title on the same card.
The 35-year-old Chisora was born in Zimbabwe but fights out of England. He climbs up the ring steps with a mark of 31-9 along with 22 Kos. He lost twice to Dillian Whyte as he was stopped in the 11th round of a slugfest last December and he dropped a 12-round split decision to him two years earlier. He’s also lost twice to Tyson Fury as he was halted after 10 rounds in 2014 and dropped a 12-round unanimous decision in 2011. His other five losses came via a fifth-round TKO to David Haye in 2012, a unanimous decision loss to world champ Vitali Klitschko just five months earlier and a 12-round split decision defeat to Robert Helenius three months before that for three straight defeats.
Chisora was also beaten by Kubrat Pulev by a 12-round split decision back in May, 2017 and by Agit Kabayel via a majority decision in November, 2017. Chisora stands just over 6-feet-1-inch tall and has a 74-inch wingspan. He may be a little 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. Chisora’s defeated the likes of Szpilka, Carlos Takam, Malik Scott and Kevin Johnson. As a pro he’s captured the WBA International and WBO International, WBA Inter-Continental and British Heavyweight Titles.
Chisora has plenty of experience against top-notch opposition but has usually fallen short when stepping up in class with the exception coming against Takam. He’s boxed 252 rounds since turning pro in 2007 and owns a 55 per cent knockout ratio. You never know which version of Chisora is going to show up but when he’s motivated he can be pretty exciting by giving and taking all night long. When he’s at his best he can be a handful for anybody on the world stage but he sometimes runs out of steam as the fight goes on.
The 36-year-old Price of Liverpool enters the contest with a record of 25-6 along with 20 Kos. He’s one of the bigger heavyweights around at 6-feet-8-inches in height and has a reach of 82 inches. This gives him a 6.5-inch height edge on Chisora and eight inches in reach. Price won the bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Games but hasn’t really become a top-10 contender on the heavyweight scene. He’s fought mostly European opposition and fights mainly over there. He’s boxed 113 rounds since turning pro in 2009 mainly due to his power and questionable chin.
Speaking of power, Price has enough of it as his current knockout ratio is 64.5 per cent. He’s fought and beaten the likes of Sam Sexton, John McDermott, Matt Skelton, Audley Harrison and Yaroslav Zavorotnyi as well as a host of other relatively unknown heavyweights. When he did step up in class slightly against American veteran Tony Thompson he was stopped in the second round in February of 2013 and then halted in the fifth round of their rematch five months later. With both fights being held in his hometown.
Price was also stopped by Erkan Teper in the second round in 2015, by Christian Hammer in in the seventh round in 2017, by Alexander Povetkin in five rounds and Sergey Kuzmin after four rounds both last year. There’s no question Price’ chin isn’t his strongest point since he’s been stopped in all six defeats. However his power is his equalizer and his size doesn’t usually hurt him either. He’ll need to be at his very best to have a chance against Chisora and won’t last long if his chin doesn’t hold out. He does have a puncher’s chance at pulling off an upset though.
Prediction…
Price has a huge height and reach advantage over Chisora and would be wise to use it by nailing him at a distance as often as possible. Price’s chin is very susceptible so he needs to stay away from the infighting and brawling. This is an interesting matchup and the outcome depends on Price’s chin. If Chisora lands flush somewhere along the way then I think it’s all over.
