By Ian S Palmer
There’s a big European heavyweight clash scheduled for the O2 Arena in London, England this Saturday, April 20th when Dereck Chisora takes on Senad Gashi. The 12-round bout can be seen on DAZN in North America while fans in the UK can catch it on Sky Sports. Whyte last fought in December when he was stopped in the 11th round by Dillian Whyte for Whyte’s WBC Silver, and WBO International Heavyweight Titles. Gashi fought on the same card and was stopped by Carlos Takam in the seventh round.
The 35-year-old Chisora was born in Zimbabwe, but fights out of England. He climbs up the ring steps with a mark of 29-9 along with 21 Kos to his name. He’s also been beaten twice on points by Tyson Fury and 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, meaning he went through a streak of three straight defeats.
He was also beaten by Kubrat Pulev by a 12-round split decision back in May, 2016, by Agit Kabayel by majority decision in November, 2017. Chisora stands just over 6-foot-1 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 Carlos Takam, Malik Scott and Kevin Johnson, but has usually been beaten when stepping up in class with the exception coming against Takam.
He’s fought 240 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. Gashi is a 28-year-old native of Kosovo who’s a German citizen and now fights out of Spain. His record stands at 17-2 with 17 Kos. There’s no question he has power with all of his wins coming by way of stoppage and an 89 per cent KO ratio. However, his chin is questionable as he was stopped by Takam and he hasn’t beaten anybody recognizable to most boxing fans.
He also lost to Tom Schwartz as he was disqualified in their bout in the sixth round last April. Gashi has boxed just 37 rounds since turning pro in 2014 and at just over 6-feet-tall he’s an inch shorter than Chisora. Unfortunately, his reach is unlisted. Since turning pro he’s captured the vacant Global Boxing Council Inter-Continental, the vacant German International, the vacant WBC Baltic Silver, the vacant Global Boxing Union, and the vacant Universal Boxing Federation International Heavyweight Titles. However, 10 of his 19 opponents have had losing records.
Prediction…
With his power, Gashi has a puncher’s chance as Chisora’s chin is questionable, but his list of opponents hasn’t been very impressive and he’s lost both fights when stepping up in class. Chisora usually bobs and weaves his way to the inside and doesn’t mind to brawl. Neither boxer is really an elite heavyweight at this stage of their careers, but Chisora has a lot more experience against tougher opponents and that should be the difference. This could be an exciting brawl and I think Chisora will take it.
