By Ian S Palmer
There’s a big domestic British heavyweight rematch scheduled for the O2 Arena in London, England this Saturday, December 10th when Dereck Chisora takes on Dillian Whyte. The 12-round bout can be seen on DAZN in North America while fans in the UK and Ireland can catch it on Sky Box Office pay per view. The two met in December, 2016 with Whyte winning a 12-round decision in a slugfest. Whyte last fought in July when he beat former WBO Heavyweight Champ Joseph Parker by a close 12-round unanimous decision to win the vacant WBO International Belt and retain his WBC Silver Heavyweight Crown. Chisora’s last outing came in July when he stopped Carlos Takam in the eighth round of another slugfest for the vacant WBA International Title.
The 30-year-old Whyte was born in Jamaica and fights out of England. He’s also a former British and WBC Silver Heavyweight Champion. He enters the ring at 24-1 with 17 Kos. He’s got quite a bit of power in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 68 per cent. Whyte stands 6-feet-4-four inches tall and has a 78-inch reach. He’s boxed 122 rounds since turning pro in 2011. His biggest wins have been over Parker, Lucas Browne, a 10-round unanimous decision over Robert Helenius, a third-round TKO over Brian Minto and his split decision over Chisora.
His lone loss came to Anthony Joshua by seventh-round stoppage in December, 2015 before Joshua won his title belts by beating Wladimir Klitschko. Whyte also fought Joshua as an amateur in 2009 and dropped him along the way to a decision win. Whyte, a former kickboxer and mixed-martial artist, has decent boxing skills, but usually relies on his power to carry him through. He’s got good size for a heavyweight and has a pretty solid chin despite his loss to Joshua and being decked by Parker. Whyte’s also beaten the likes of Ian Lewison, David Allen and Marcelo Luiz Nascimento.
The 34-year-old Chisora was born in Zimbabwe but also fights out of England. He climbs up the ring steps with a mark of 29-8 along with 21 Kos to his name. He’s 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’s three inches shorter than Whyte and has a four-inch reach disadvantage. 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 Takam, Malik Scott and Kevin Johnson, but has been beaten when stepping up in class with the exception coming against Takam. He’s fought 229 rounds since turning pro in 2007 and owns a 57 per cent knockout ratio.
Prediction…
Whyte should use his height and reach advantages while Chisorawill try to bob and weave his way to the inside without getting hiton the way in. Neither boxer minds turning their fights into brawls,but they also have decent basic boxing skills as well. Neither boxeris really an elite heavyweight at this stage of their careers, butthis is a big rematch in the UK and both should be motivated asthey’re hoping to land a title shot against Joshua or Deontay Wilder.Whyte seems to have the edge in power while Chisora is moreexperienced. They have both been stopped, but have relatively goodchins. This could be another exciting brawl like their first meetingand I think Whyte will be victorious once again.
