Chisora to face Wladimir Klitschko
In a surprise move Dereck Chisora is set to face Wladimir Klitschko for the Ukrainian’s WBO, IBO, and IBF titles.
The British and commonwealth champion faces the world champion on December 11th. It is a massive step up in class for Chisora who has only been fighting half-decent boxers on the domestic scene for a year, winning the British strap from Danny Williams before defeating Sam Sexton in September for the Commonwealth title.
It shows the remarkable lack of depth within the heavyweight division that someone like Chisora can get a shot at the champion so easily. Although undefeated his career, Chisora is still in the fledgling stage and he probably hasn’t fought the calibre of opposition to prepare him for a world title tilt.
It also shows how ridiculous the collapse of Klitschko’s fight with David Haye was as he seems to have agreed terms with Chisora in no time at all.
There is no denying “Del Boy” is a talent. He is strong, reasonably fast and has great head movement in the Joe Frazier mould, but he will not be able to slip past Klitschko’s jab at this juncture in his career. The experienced Klitschko has walked through similar up-and-coming boxers from the USA like Eddie Chambers and made them look very poor on a number of occasions.
If Chisora had given it another year or two he could have caused him more trouble. That’s not to rule him out entirely; Chisora is not at all short of confidence and it’s been a long time since someone had a real go at Klitschko. As his trainer Emanuel Steward reminded him, Leon Spinks a 24-year-old outsider beat Muhammad Ali back in 1978 and there is no reason why history won’t repeat itself.
However, realistically, it’s hard to take Chisora seriously as a challenger at this juncture of his career and you have to wonder why someone like Tomas Adamek isn’t the No.1 choice or why there is no more deserving challenger because with due respect for Chisora he probably hasn’t earned a shot yet.
It is all another indication of how the unlimited weight division has declined. It was once the proudest class in boxing but now a 14-fight British champion can walk straight into elite level for a world title shot.
The whole thing is reminiscent of Joe Louis and his “bum of the month club.”
Tags: