Former undisputed cruiserweight king Oleksandr Usyk and fan favorite Derek Chisora clash in a heavyweight bout Saturday night on Sky Sports Box Office in the UK and DAZN in the US.
Oleksandr Usyk: “There will be no war. I bring peace – pure, clean boxing. He will definitely want to hurt me badly but I won’t stand in front of him. I don’t know why everyone is talking about a test at Heavyweight because, all of my life, I have been tested by Heavyweights. In the World Series of Boxing I was a Heavyweight – people wanted to hurt me but didn’t manage to. If the king of animals would be considered according to the size, then it would be elephant, not the lion. An elephant is a friend of the mouse!”
Derek Chisora: “People tell me that I hold the key to the rich and famous! You shall not pass! He will try to box. I can’t box. It will be a shoot-out. When I hit him, he’ll be hit, there is nowhere to hide. I need a fair referee. I want this fight to be fair. I don’t want to be dancing or wrestling. I want both of us to work fairly. I have to keep marching forwards. He will try to wrong-foot me but I’m ready. People will be surprised.”
Chisora won’t require the “fair referee” he is requesting. KO losses are simple to interpret. Unless it’s Howard Foster scheduled. He has a tendency to cut some fights short prematurely and keeps getting the callback despite his big fight judgement errors.
Also Chisora is doing the classic thing where he makes false claims of things HE does instead attributing those actions to his opponents. If the ref listens then the ref (a bad one) may overlook his actions and scold Usyk early for any minor thing or even take points early. By mentioning it (without cause) early on Chisora is already going with Plan “C”, because his Plan A and B are dead in the water. He’s hoping to win a dirty fight where the ref pays more attention to usyk than him because he’s too slow to catch Usyk or deal with his jab, much less win by KO. Prediction here is Loss #10 (old habits get tough to change) for Derek.
Usyk is obviously the favorite but Chisora will bring fire from the beginning. He can catch and finish Usyk. If he lands big, he wins. Should be exciting…
Straight facts
Usyk may have dominated the cruiserweight division, but he is in with bigger men now who can “crack” when size matters. Chisora is a decent test for him, but the bigger giants are yet to come. I wish him the best, but I am skeptical at times since his defense is open at times for counters when he steps in off the jab. A big puncher will take advantage of that target right away.
Recon the surprise everyone is going to get is when Chisora and Usyk are in the ring Sat night and Usyk is going to look and box like the bigger man. Watch weigh-in today, it will show there as well.
On the ‘fair referee’ point I agree with Chisora. The last thing the fans will want to see is a ref like that Italian referee Giuseppe Quartarone who kept AJ and Parker from fighting on the inside.
Chisorah looks small
Not quite sure I’d order ppv, but this is definitely an intriguing fight. Usyk clearly wins (I said same thing about Lomenchenko) but Chisora isn’t gong to roll over and hand it to him. It’s a good gauge to see where Usyk stands as a heavyweight, and a win will serve as a legitimate earning of a title shot!
Chisora will Stop Him
Head say Usyk,
Heart says Chisoras.
At cruiser Usyk was a machine, technically impressive, methodically breaking his oppenent down with beautifully delivered offence, if he can do the same at HW Chisora is in for a long, painful night…but if Chisora can swarm all over Usyk, hit him anywhere and everywhere (legal) he’s surely got a chance.
Looking forward to this one for sure!
Usyk needs to learn how to sell fights. Saying you are going to bring peach isn’t really cutting it.
Has Usyk been misquoted or did he make the mistake, when he said the elephant is a friend of the mouse, instead of afraid?