By Steven Finlay – British and Commonwealth Heavyweight Champion Dereck Chisora has accepted Wladimir Klitschko’s surprise offer to fight for the world title. The contest, being held in Mannheim, Germany, will be for Wlad’s WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine belts and will take place on the 11th of December this year.
Not content with trying to wrest the Heavyweight crown from one Kitschko, “Del Boy” looks poised to tackle older brother Vitali for the WBC strap as well. For stipulations in the deal, which sounds very similar to the one WBA titlist David Haye rejected as a “ slave contract”, mean that should Chisora successfully dethrone Wlad then his very next fight shall be against Vitali, and if he wins that then he faces a third bout with the one of the two brothers.
It’s a bold move to challenge either of this era’s two most dominant Heavyweights, let alone both, after only 14 professional fights, but the undefeated fighter from Finchley is nothing if not brash. Something he proved with the message he posted for the brothers on frankwarren.tv.
“The Klitschkos have ruled for too long and I can’t wait to get into the ring in Germany and smash the living daylights out of Wladimir first,”
“Vitali is waiting in the background and I’ll deal with him once I’ve dealt with Wladimir,”
“Wladimir is a good strong champion, technically excellent, but I believe I can bring something new to beat him,”
“I’m a young, fresh and hungry challenger and I’ve got the punch back me up,”
“An opportunity like this may not come around again or for a long time so I’ve got to take it now and believe me, one shot is all I need.”
Many believe that the opportunity has come to early for the young Englishman, and it’s certainly a step up in class from his last fight, a 9th round TKO of unheralded Sam Sexton. However one man who has confidence is “Del Boy’s” promoter, Frank Warren.
“When I talked to him about the opportunity, he insisted that I took it. Unlike David Haye, for Dereck this about the challenge, not the money. He really believes that he can beat Wladimir.”
“It’s in the contract that if he beats Wladimir then he has to face Vitali next, but he’s got a big job ahead of him first”
“He’s taking himself out of London and into a training camp, away from any distractions, to totally focus on the fight,”
It’s good to see that Chisora is taking the fight seriously and plans to give himself the best shot of defeating the champ. Too many of “ Dr Steelhammers” previous opponents have turned up bereft of any ambition and lacking in all but the most basic physical conditioning. Wither Derecks ambitions last beyond the opening bell remain to be seen, but whatever the result he deserves respect for having the courage to step up to the task, something that seems lacking in most Heavyweight contenders these days. Besides, if he turns up in shape and motivated he could give us all a shock, or at least a Heavyweight title fight worthy of the name before we get the fight we all want to see. Klitschko versus Haye.