WBC Heavyweight Champion Vitali Klitschko will attempt to defend his title at the Olympiahalle, in Munich, Germany on Feb 18 when he takes on 28-year-old Dereck Chisora of Britain. Klitschko enters the ring with record of 43-2 with 40 knockouts, while Chisora is 15-2 with nine knockouts.
Klitschko has taken a lot of criticism for fighting somebody the quality of Chisora, because quite frankly he doesn’t deserve a title shot. Chisora has lost two of his last three fights, a 12-round split decision to Robert Helenius and a 12-round unanimous decision to Tyson Fury, neither of them household names. The fight he did manage to win was a six-round unanimous decision against Remigijus Ziausys back in November. Ziausys entered the ring with a woeful 19-43-3 record.
The only other boxer Chisora has fought who might be considered a recognizable name was Danny Williams, who Chisora knocked out in the second round back in 2010. Wilson’s claim to fame was scoring a fourth-round TKO over Mike Tyson back in 2004. Chisora’s last fight was against Helenius in December, so he’s at least been active recently. The 40-year-old Klitschko last fought in September against Tomasz Adamek of Poland and stopped him in the 10th round.
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Chisora, who was born in Zimbabwe, went 12 rounds against Fury and Helenius, so he’s at least got the stamina to go the distance, but other than that there’s not much else about him that points to an upset win over Klitschko. Of course, anytime a heavyweight connects with a solid punch to the head anything can happen, but it’s not a likely scenario in this bout.
With nine knockouts in 17 fights Chisora isn’t a power puncher and Klitschko has a decent chin, even though his two losses were both stoppages, to Lennox Lewis in the sixth round back in 2003 and to Chris Byrd in the ninth round in 2000. On the other hand, Klitschko’s 40 knockouts in 43 wins is one of the best knockout percentages in the history of boxing, in any division.
Chisora does have age on his side and he said he’ll be looking to wear the champion down and tire him out instead of going for a KO. He said he doesn’t want to leave himself open by looking for a stoppage, but if the opportunity presents itself he’ll go for it. Klitschko said he respects Chisora and felt the Briton beat Helenius even though he dropped the decision. He said he won’t underestimate him and is expecting a tough fight.
Klitschko stands just over 6-feet-7 inches tall and has an 80-inch reach while Chisora is just under 6-foot 2 with a 74-inch reach. All of the intangibles point to a mismatch and it could very well turn out to be one. However, if Chisora goes into the fight with no fear and makes Klitschko work then it should at least be entertaining while it lasts. When the referee raises the hand of the winner, expect it to be Klitschko by a stoppage anytime after the sixth round.
Sportsbook 5dimes.com has the current odds of a Klitschko win at -1700 and a Chisora victory at +1000. The odds of it going over 11.5 rounds are +200 and going under 11.5 rounds at -200. Visit 5Dimes.com now to bet on this fight.
Dereck Chisora betting • Vitali Klitschko betting • WBC Heavyweight Title