Dereck Chisora has been given a lift by British great Lennox Lewis ahead of his world title showdown against Vitali Klitschko.
The heavy-handed Londoner takes on WBC World Heavyweight Champion Klitschko on Saturday 18th February at the Olympiahalle in Munich, live on BoxNation (Sky Ch. 456/Virgin Ch. 546).
Lewis, the last man to beat the giant Ukrainian nearly nine years ago in a very close fight, said: “Vitali is very good but Chisora has a chance. He is a heavyweight. All it takes is one punch on the chin to win. I always say if you walk into the ring you have to get wet. If he [Klitschko] is in the fight, in the ring, and he gets punched, there is a chance that he might get hurt or knocked out. It will be an interesting fight.”
Chisora, who is finalising preparations in London before heading to Germany on Sunday, said, “It’s good to hear those words from a great fighter like Lennox,”
“He understands that anyone can get hurt with a good punch in the ring, no matter who you are, and one good shot is all I need to topple Klitschko,”
“I’m going into the fight against as the underdog, just the way I like it, so when I knock him out in round eight it will be a massive shock that will be felt around the world,”
He added, “At the end of the day it’s me in the ring and I’ve got to go in there and do a job on him.”
The Bigger They Are… Klitschko v Chisora is live and exclusive on BoxNation (Sky Ch. 456/ Virgin Ch. 546) on Saturday 18th February. Join at www.boxnation.tv
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Paul Malignaggi follows the steps of Brad Solomon
In an interview to RingTV Paul Malignaggi said about his unwillingness to sign a contract motivating that the venue (Donetsk, Ukraine) is not a suitable for the fight, although in November 2011 at the WBA Convention he declared that it would be an honor for him to fight with Vyacheslav Senchenko on Donbass Arena, one of the best stadiums in Europe.
Moreover, an American fighter is very disappointed with the results of the purse bid, “Golden Boy Promotions” lost the purse-bid to Ukrainian company “Union Boxing Promotion”. He considers that his prize-money is low because Ukraine is the venue, but during purse-bid “Golden Boy Promotions” offered the sum 4 times less than Ukrainian promoter. That means that Paul’s prize-money was considerably smaller. An American fighter seem to be cunning, money could not be the reason of his refusal. All these Malignaggi’s intrigues outside the ring can bring about breakdown of signing the Contract of the World championship fight with WBA Champion Vyacheslav Senchenko.
An American boxer seems not to realize that as a result of his refusal WBA may apply penalty sanctions, he will be out of top 15 in WBA rating. He will follow the steps of Brad Solomon.
If Paul considers himself a real boxer he has to fight for the world champion title and not to justify his intention not to sign the Contract because the fight will take place not in USA and there are some financial issues to be solved with “Golden Boy Promotions”.
What did Paul Malignaggi mean saying “I’m not going to put myself into a situation where I have to go to someone’s hometown and lose ”. Perhaps, he is afraid of the sum of prize-money and preconceived refereeing. But all this is just Paul’s fantasy. The prize-money he was offered is really big, even in USA. Concerning refereeing there are a lot of examples from the history of “Union Boxing Promotion” that show that refereeing in Donetsk pro boxing shows is absolutely unbiased and neutral. Let us remember the losses of WBA challenger Stanislav Kashtanov and EBU champion Oleg Yefimovich, when all boxing fans, specialists and boxers were really shocked by decision in favor of “journeyman”.
Owing to misunderstanding between “Golden Boy Promotions” and Pual Malignaggi about split of the prize-money, loss at the purse bid and groundless complaints of Paul regarding the venue, WBA World welterweight Championship could be at risk.