More than two years since their first meeting, Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora go head-to-head at the O2 in London this weekend.
The carrot dangling in front of both heavyweights is a vacant April date in the diary of Anthony Joshua. The four-times world champion needs a warm-up fight before a proposed meeting with the winner of the rematch between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury, which surely has to take place in the first half of 2019 to decide which can fight AJ for the undisputed world crown.
Whyte is a best 1/3 to beat Chisora, as he did at the Manchester Arena just over two years ago. It was a split decision that night, however, after 12 gruelling rounds.
Dereck Chisora v Dillian Whyte – Tale of The Tape
| Dereck Chisora | Tale of The Tape | Dillian Whyte |
|---|---|---|
| 29 | Wins | 24 |
| 8 | Lost | 1 |
| 21 | KOs | 17 |
| 0 | Draws | 0 |
| 37 | Total Bouts | 25 |
| 57% | KO% | 68% |
| 6’1″ | Height | 6’4″ |
| 74″ | Reach | 78″ |
| Orthodox | Stance | Orthodox |
| Finchley, London, United Kingdom | Nationality | Port Antonio, Jamaica |
| December 29th, 1983 | Date of Birth | 1988-04-11 |
That first fight was one of the best of 2016 and the result was a touch controversial. Whyte’s only defeat so far has come against Joshua, however, and that is why the younger man is at such short odds against the Londoner. He was full value for his latest defeat of Joseph Parker, the New Zealander had caused Joshua problems in an earlier world title fight.
Chisora, a general 11/4 in the outright betting, has been a pro for 12 years and fought against some of the biggest names in the heavyweight division including Tyson Fury, David Haye and Vitali Klitschko. Unfortunately, he lost to all of them and has also been defeated when meeting any heavyweight of note over the last six years including Kubrat Pulev and, of course, Whyte. Del Boy does love a scrap, however, and only Haye and Fury have managed to stop him inside the distance. In taking out France’s Carlos Takam in July, Chisora showed that he still has some power in that upper body. Takam had earlier lasted 10 round against Joshua.
This heavyweight bout is not likely to be one for the purists. The former will know that his best chance of causing an upset will be to stop his Jamaican-born opponent so he’ll be trying to set him up for a big hot. Whyte is the better boxer and will almost certainly outscore Chisora if he can keep out of range of his haymakers.
Chisora’s resilience is almost legendary and he won’t want to give Whyte the satisfaction of knocking him out – there is no love lost between the two big men. However, he may well become more and more frustrated as the fight progresses and it’s entirely possible that he’ll get careless in the closing rounds if he’s behind on the judges’ cards. Dillan Whyte is 15/8 with Betfred to win by KO, TKO or Disqualification but I don’t believe that his first priority will be to finish off his man early. I’d rather have a punt on Whyte to win by Decision or Technical Decision after 12 rounds, available at 6/4 with Sportingbet. It’s a general 8/11 for the fight to go the distance and 6/5 with Betfred for proceedings to end early.
