SecondsOut breaks down the matchup and figures out who will win
By: Mike Sloan: Tonight marks the return to action of Vitali Klitschko, one-half of the best heavyweight tandem on the planet and one of the best big men of the past decade. Every time the hulking Ukrainian fights, it’s a massive deal, particularly across Europe and this time around shouldn’t be any different.
Standing in his way is a man born in Zimbabwe but currently residing in London and has made a name for himself recently by slapping the titleholder this past week. He’s been talking tons of trash as well, which always helps ticket sales. Dereck Chisora (15-2, 9 KOs) is the man making bold proclamations and acting a fool in an attempt to rattle Klitschko and considering he isn’t exactly a household commodity the world over, it might benefit him in terms of recognition.
The Klitschko brothers are used to this sort of thing, particularly Vitali’s brother Wladimir who had to deal with the boisterous David Haye. Klitschko (43-2, 40 KOs) probably won’t be fazed by the antics and is rightfully a huge favorite against the largely untested Chisora.
Below is a strength vs. strength breakdown of Klitschko vs. Chisora and then whom SecondsOut.com feels will triumph. This will be a regularly occurring feature on SecondsOut, so feel free to drop a line and give your thoughts on the new piece.
Punching power: Though Chisora has some decent knockout wins on his resume, he doesn’t possess the same sort of fight-altering, chalkboard erasing one punch power that Klitschko has. Obviously because he’s a heavyweight, if he lands a clean, fully leveraged shot on Dr. Ironfist’s jaw, the fight will presumably be over, but let’s not kid ourselves: Klitschko has the heavier hands. Forty knockouts is forty knockouts no matter how anybody cuts it. Advantage: Klitschko
Speed: Chisora is the shorter, lighter of the two so that might give him a slight edge in terms of speed. However, Klitschko, even with his telephone pole-like reach, is deceptively fast. He punches with precision and his shots travel shorter distances. The speed factor might be a relative push, but considering how well Klitschko punches and how perfectly he places his shots, the edge goes to the Ukrainian. He’ll land early and often and he’ll beat the smaller Chisora to the punch almost at will. Advantage: Klitschko
Size: Klitschko is obviously the much larger, more powerful bloke. He’s got a solid six inches of height and a much longer reach coupled with the heavier frame. It’s almost unfair considering how much of a size advantage Klitschko has. Advantage: Klitschko
Age factor: Klitschko is getting up there in age; he’s 40. Granted, guys like Bernard Hopkins and Randy Couture have scoffed at Father Time routinely, but eventually age does play a factor. However, Klitschko’s style actually works in his age’s favor because he doesn’t rely on blistering speed and snakelike reflexes as much as, say, Floyd Mayweather does or Pernell Whitaker used to. He’s got enough experience to thwart whatever age issues may arise. Advantage: Klitschko
Chin: It’s hard to say in this fight because either man can get his block knocked off with the right shot. Though Wladimir Klitschko has been accused of having a porcelain chin, Vitali hasn’t truly been knocked out. His two losses were via TKO, but one was due to a gruesome cut (Lennox Lewis) and the other was from a shoulder injury (Chris Byrd). Chisora has never been stopped and he has shown to have a good chin, though he hasn’t faced the level of opponent of that of his opponent. The logical guess is that Klitschko will be the one inflicting the damage and it’s a likely scenario that it’ll be Chisora looking up at the lights and not Klitschko. Advantage: Klitschko
