By Ian S Palmer
Former Undisputed Cruiserweight Champion Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine battles veteran Dereck Chisora of Zimbabwe in a 12-round heavyweight bout this Saturday, Oct. 31st. The fight takes place in London, England and can be seen live in the UK on Sky Sports Box Office while fans in North America can catch it on DAZN. Usyk last fought in October, 2019 when he stopped Chazz Witherspoon after seven rounds in Usyk’s heavyweight debut. Chisora’s last ring appearance resulted in a fourth-round stoppage of David Price last October for the vacant WBO Inter-continental Heavyweight Crown.
The 33-year-old Usyk unified the cruiserweight titles in July of 2018 in the final of the World Boxing Super Series when he beat Murat Gassiev by unanimous decision. He became the first man ever to hold the WBO, IBF, WBA and WBC Cruiserweight Belts at the same time. He was the WBO and WBC champ when he beat Gassiev who was the IBF and WBA champ. Usyk, who owns a perfect record of 17-0 with 13 Kos, won the WBO Title by beating Krzysztof Glowacki by unanimous decision in September, 2016 in Poland.
He defended it against Thabiso Mchunu with a ninth-round stoppage three months later and against Michael Hunter in April of 2017. He then stopped Marco Huck in 10 rounds before taking the WBC title from Mairis Briedis by majority decision in January, 2018. Usyk is a 6-foot-3-inch southpaw with a reach of 78 inches. He turned pro back in 2013 and has boxed 132 rounds since then. Usyk has fine power as his current knockout ratio stands at 76.5 per cent, but he’s been taken the distance in four of his past eight and three of his past six outings.
The only men to last the distance with him have been Gassiev, Hunter, Glowacki and Briedis and he also has victories over some relative unknowns over in Europe. He enjoyed an excellent amateur career as he competed at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China and then won the gold medal in the heavyweight division at the 2012 Games in London. He also won bronze and gold at World Amateur Championship tournaments in 2009 and 2011 respectively.
The 36-year-old Chisora fights out of England and climbs into the ring with a mark of 42-9 with 23 Kos. He lost twice to 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. 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 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 by a 12-round split decision 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 which sees him give up about two inches in height and four inches in reach to Usyk. 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. He’s defeated the likes of Artur 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 being against Takam. He’s boxed 256 rounds since turning pro in 2007 and owns a 56.1 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…
Usyk struggled early against Witherspoon in his heavyweight debut and will need to be quite a bit better if he hopes to take down Chisora. He’s also going to need a solid chin. Chisora has been beaten by lesser opponents than Usyk as you never know which version of him you’re going to get. If he’s at his best he can do some damage though. Still, I’m expecting Usyk to remain unbeaten on Saturday.
