It seems former four-belt cruiserweight king Oleksandr Usyk will have another fight at heavyweight, his second, before going into his planned world title shot. Eddie Hearn, speaking with Sky Sports, said a Usyk-Dereck Chisora fight is “very close,” and will now come down to a matter of dates.
Hearn said the fight will likely happen on either March 28th at The O2 in London, or April 11th in Manchester. A fascinating fight, one that would/will test Usyk properly at heavyweight (no disrespect to Chazz Witherspoon, who the Ukrainian lefty stopped some months back), this one could prove very lively. Hearn is not alone in thinking this match-up will provide “a brilliant fight.”
“It’s very close,” the promoter said today. “It’s not a date issue really – March 28 would be the favorite. A brilliant fight. Dereck Chisora, the way that he has come back in the sport of boxing and the dedication he has with David Haye, a great team. They believe that they can win that fight. They believe they can cause a big upset. They think Usyk can’t handle the big boys.”
So can Usyk handle the big men of the sport? Another good question is, how much has Chisora, 32-9(23) and aged 36, with some 13 years in the sport at pro level, got left? How many more times can “War” go to the well? Chisora has looked good quite recently, winning his three fights of 2019, and he is of course the bigger man here. But 33 year old Usyk has many experts convinced he is more than capable of giving the heavyweight champions some real problems, if not of beating them.
Chisora is now the gatekeeper Usyk must get through if he’s to get his shot at Anthony Joshua. We know we can expect Chisora to come out hard and heavy, to give his all, and we pretty much expect Usyk to use his bag of tools to try and outbox the heavier, stronger man. Again, a genuinely fascinating fight.
While it’s foolish to ever write off Chisora, the faster, fresher, more talented Usyk is the pick to win here. However, a tough, at times quite punishing 12 rounds can be anticipated. Can Usyk, 17-0(13) get the stoppage win?
Oh, and another question: is this fight pay-per-view worthy?