Oleksandr Usyk vs. Dereck Chisora moved to October says Hearn

By Michael Collins - 06/20/2020 - Comments

Fans will need to wait until October before they get a chance to see the mouth-watering heavyweight match between Oleksandr Usyk and Dereck Chisora. Eddie Hearn revealed yesterday that he plans on staging the Usyk vs. Chisora fight in October.

Usyk (17-0, 13 KOs) has this last hoop to jump through against the formidable puncher Chisora (32-9, 23 KOs) before he takes on IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in 2021.

Unfortunately, it’s not an absolute certainty that Usyk, the World Boxing Organization’s mandatory challenger, will get his title shot against Joshua next year. Hearn is considering whether it’s worth it for Joshua and Fury to fight with all four titles on the line for their long-awaited contest next year.

Although hearn would prefer that the Joshua-Fury fight be for the undisputed heavyweight championship in 2021, if it means that AJ needs to take on Usyk first, it may be better to sacrifice the strap.

To streamline the process for Fury and Joshua to meet twice in 2021, they need to sacrifice their WBC and WBO titles if a method can’t be found to maneuver around the mandatory requirements.

Oleksandr Usyk vs. Dereck Chisora moved to October says Hearn

Chisora in the role of spoiler

‘Del Boy’ Chisora has the punching power, experience, and the ability to beat Usyk and spoil the party for him. A lot of casual boxing fans are assuming that Usyk beats the brakes off of Chisora based on how Dereck was easily out-boxed by the light-hitting Agit Kabayel in November 2017.

Chisora was out of shape and undermotivated for the Kabayel match three years ago, and it’s hard to conclude that fight to assume that Usyk will do the same thing to him. It was a different time and circumstances for Chisora in that match compared to where he would be in facing Usyk, a guy that is a riskier fight for him.

There’s much more for Chisora to gain in beating Usyk compared to when he fought Kabayel. Chisora has always wanted to face Joshua (23-1, 21 KOs), and if he beats Usyk, that could be his GOLDEN ticket to a major life-changing fight.

The money that Chisora would get from a fight against Joshua would pace his retirement years, giving him a golden parachute similar to the one that Andy Ruiz Jr got for his match against AJ last year.

Oleksandr Usyk vs. Dereck Chisora moved to October says Hearn

The 240+-pound Chisora will have significant weight and power advantage over Usyk, who looked weak at 215 pounds for his heavyweight debut last October against Chazz Witherspoon in Chicago. Usyk was trying his best to sit down on his punches, but the power wasn’t there.

He looked like a rehydrated cruiserweight against an out of shape old-timer in the Witherspoon fight. That contest raised red flags about the viability for Usyk at heavyweight, which may be one reason why he’s pushing so hard to get the Joshua clash soon.

Dereck firing on all eight-cylinders

Chisora looked superb in his last fight, beating 6’8″ David Price by a fourth-round knockout on October 26 at the O2 Arena in London, England. Other than a brief moment early on in which Chisora got clipped by a hard shot from Price, he breezed through the fight.

Chisora is a gate-keeper level heavyweight, and he’s designed to pick off the pretenders before they get to the talented guys in the division. Usyk is seen by a lot of fans as not a real heavyweight, and someone moving up to the division for a cash-out payday.

The Joe Frazier style that Chisora uses to walk down his opponents could be a problem for Usyk, who mostly dances around the ring, throwing light punches, and not standing to trade. It’s a style that is hard on the eyes, and it’s unclear whether Usyk can win against the elite-level heavyweights with that way of fighting.

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