Boxing Challenge: Chisora marches on

   Dereck Chisora was thought to be near the end of the line as a heavyweight contender and his fight with Otto Wallin was the boxing equivalent of a gold watch with one final large payday on his way out of the sport.

Instead, Chisora arrived in tremendous shape, didn't tire as quickly as he had often done in recent years, and survived an awful cut over his left eye to defeat Wallin via a unanimous decision in Manchester, England.

Chisora outworked Wallin throughout and twice scored knockdowns (in rounds nine and twelve) to cement the win.

Neither knockdown placed Wallin in danger of being stopped. Still, they did solidify Chisora's lead on the scorecards in a victory with scores of 117-109, 116-110 (my score), and a surprisingly close 114-112 with the knockdowns giving the edge to Chisora on that card.

For Chisora, who claimed before the fight that this would be his final fight in the UK, he suddenly has unexpected options.

The IBF decided to make this fight an eliminator for their second spot in the ratings and Chisora could choose to face the winner of the Martin Bakole-Efe Ajagba match and should he win, move into their mandatory challenger position.

Chisora may also pursue Anthony Joshua for a guaranteed large purse and of the three names that Chisora mentioned after his win, the possibility of Joshua bringing a larger cheer from the crowd than either champion's name, so perhaps that could be in play.

I don't want to see Chisora against the Bakole-Ajagba winner because both men are big punchers and Chisora soaks up punishment.

Joe Joyce was at ringside and should Chisora decide to face Joyce in a rematch of their terrific fight last July, I'd be okay with that.
Joyce punches hard but is painfully slow and Chisora could avoid some of Joyce's lobbing bombs.

Chisora against IBF champion Daniel DuBois could end similarly and a rematch against three-titleholder Oleksandr Usyk (Usyk won a unanimous decision in 2020) might be less competitive but Chisora could take less punishment against the supremely skilled champion.

As for Wallin, he will slip back into the fringes of contention as he came up short in a fight that was made for him to win against a smaller, limited, aging fighter and wasn't good enough.

Boxing Challenge

Ramon Malpica: 13 Pts (0) 

TRS: 13 Pts (0)

Vince Samano: 6 Pts (0)