The weights are in for tomorrow night’s heavyweight clash between veterans Kubrat Pulev and Dereck Chisora. Pulev, looking solid, came in at 250 pounds on the nose.
Chisora, also looking to be in good shape, came in at 258.2 pounds. Both men have engaged in a quite volatile build-up to the fight, which really is a must-win affair for both men, and the two warriors had another intense face-to-face today.
And today’s weigh-in wasn’t just a normal weigh-in, as is expected these days. Chisora wore a bizarre, even disturbing Boris Johnson facemask throughout the proceedings. In case you are not aware, if politics is not your thing, Johnson recently resigned from his position as British prime minister. Maybe Chisora is a fan of Boris, or maybe he simply wore the mask for a laugh. Who knows with Chisora?
But both Chisora and Pulev are ready to fight, around 7,000 fans will be in attendance at The O2 in London tomorrow night, with the fight going out live on DAZN. Chisora, 32-12(23) says we fans should not miss the fight.
“Thanks for coming, I’m excited, just tune in tomorrow,” Chisora said. I’m ready to rock and roll. Come and watch me if there are any tickets left. You will not be disappointed.”
The term ‘must-win fight’ can be somewhat overused, but in the case of these two, they’ve-been-around-forever heavyweights, it’s an apt description of their fight. The loser really will have no place to go other than into retirement or, sadly, into trial-horse, journeyman mode. We don’t wish to see either Pulev or Chisora carry on for too long (if Chisora hasn’t already done so) and get fed to up-and-comers.
Tomorrow’s winner will have options. There has even been some vague suggestion from Eddie Hearn that, if Chisora wins, he could get a fight with Deontay Wilder. Whether or not you wish to see that fight is another question, but we know Chisora is game enough to face absolutely anybody.
As much as I dislike going against Chisora, the pick here is for the older but less worn Pulev, 292(14), to pull out the decision win, as he did when these two first fought. Having said this, Chisora is a guy who is great at proving people wrong. Chisora “can’t keep losing,” Hearn has said. But will “War” suffer his 13th pro defeat tomorrow?
