By Ian S Palmer
Dereck Chisora of Zimbabwe is set to go 10 rounds with Gerald Washington of San Jose, California at the O2 Arena in London, England this Saturday, August 12th. The heavyweight bout can be seen live in most nations on DAZN. Chisora last saw action in December when he was completely outclassed by Tyson Fury and stopped in the 10th round in a shot at the WBC Heavyweight Title. It was the third meeting between the two as Fury won a 12-round unanimous decision in 2011 to retain the British and Commonwealth Heavyweight Titles and then stopped Chisora after 10 rounds in 2014 to retain his British, European and WBO International belts. Washington last saw action in January, 2022 when he was halted in the eighth round by Ali Eren Demirezen.
The 39-year-old Chisora is based in England and climbs into the ring with a mark of 33-13 with 23 Ko’s. Along with losing a trio of bouts 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 more recently, he lost for the second time to former heavyweight titleholder Joseph Parker as he dropped a 12-round unanimous decision in December, 2021 after losing a split 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. However, he avenged the loss to Pulev via a 12-round split decision last July in one of his best career performances.
Chisora stands just over 6-feet-1-inch tall and has a 74-inch wingspan. He may be a bit 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 Pulev as well as Artur Szpilka, Carlos Takam, Malik Scott and Kevin Johnson. He has plenty of experience against top-notch opposition but usually falls short when stepping up in class with the exception being against Takam and Pulev.
Chisora has captured the WBA International and WBO International, WBA Inter-Continental and British Heavyweight Titles as a pro and has boxed 314 rounds since making his debut in 2007. He has decent power with a current 50 per cent knockout ratio but hasn’t stopped anybody since halting David Price in four rounds in 2019. 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.
The 41-year-old Washington climbs into the ring with a 20-5-1 record with 13 Ko’s and has boxed 125 rounds since turning pro in 2012. He’s a former football player and member of the U.S. Navy and didn’t turn pro until he was 30 years old. Washington’s been been stopped in all five of his losses. He was halted by WBC champ Deontay Wilder in five rounds in 2017 as well as after eight rounds against Jarrell Miller in his next fight five months later. He was stopped in the second stanza by Adam Kownacki in January, 2019, by Charles Martin in six rounds in 2020 and by Ali Eren Demirezen in his last outing. His lone draw was a 10-round tilt with Amir Mansour in 2015.
Washington is the taller boxer here by 4.5 inches as he’s 6-feet-6-inches tall and has a wingspan of 82 inches, giving him an eight-inch advantage in reach as well. Washington’s not a knockout artist but also has respectable power with a current knockout ratio of 50 per cent, the same as Chisora. However he has just one stoppage in the last seven fights, which came in 2019 when he halted Robert Helenius in the eighth round. He’s beaten some other recognizable heavyweights during his career such as Ray Austin, Eddie Chambers, Jason Gavern, Nagy Aguilera, Sherman Williams and Travis Walker.
Prediction…
Washington has lost his last two fights and five of his past seven while Chisora has dropped four of his past five. In addition, Washington is 41 years old and Chisora’s 39 and Washington hasn’t fought in about 17 months. Still, this should be a good fight to watch while it lasts. Chisora has more dog in him as he’ll keep going until he’s either counted out or the referee halts the contest. On the other hand, the writing’s often on the wall once Washington is hurt in a fight. Washington does have the power to do some damage and he’s definitely got the height and reach advantage to keep Chisora at bay, but I think somewhere along the line Chisora will put together enough shots to stop the fight.
