The official weights are in for tomorrow night’s heavyweight clash between Derek Chisora and Otto Wallin. Ahead of their fight in Manchester – dubbed “The Last Dance,” as it is promoted as being Chisora’s last fight in the UK, this before “War” boxes his 50th fight overseas later this year and then calls it quits on a fabulous up and down career – Chisora scaled 259.7 pounds. In comparison, Wallin came in at 239.1 pounds.
Both men were pretty much all smiles at today’s weigh-in, even when Chisora got in Wallin’s face and then placed him in a headlock. Wallin refused to overreact, but security did come in to separate the two men. Chisora, 35-13(23), said after his headlock antics with Wallin, he is now in “war mode.”
Wallin supposedly told Chisora he is “very good” at pre-fight fun and games. Chisora agreed, saying, “That’s why, after 49 fights, I’m still headlining.”
So, what kind of a fight can we expect to see tomorrow night? Wallin stopped just once as a pro and was beaten by only two men, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, the taller, younger, fresher man. But Chisora insists Wallin “hasn’t got the dog in him” and that he will go in the ring and “break” the southpaw from Sweden. Chisora has vowed to put some hurt on Wallin and “smoke him.”
Both guys look in good physical shape, as is always the case with Chisora. We know Wallin puts the work in the gym, and some experts and fans feel he could be wrong for Chisora, but what about his reach advantage and his good jab? Wallin, for sure, could outbox Chisora – who has some serious miles on his clock – for long periods. But will Chisora catch up with Wallin at some point, perhaps with body punches followed by bombs upstairs?
It could be a good fight, but at the same time, if Chisora finds he hasn’t got the levels of energy he once had, and if Wallin opts to hold onto a points lead and boxes somewhat negatively, we could be in for a dull encounter.
Almost all the fans live at the fight will be rooting for Chisora, naturally, and maybe the crowd can lift Chisora up for one more big push. A Wallin decision win cannot be ruled out, though.
