Dereck Chisora & Odlanier Solis: Is the Klitschko Domination Over?
(This article was written before the recent cancellation of Wladimir Klitschko Vs. Dereck Chisora.)
By Eugene Green
The boxing community these days does not have anything positive to say about the heavyweight scene. The contenders are bums, and Klitschkos are boring and formulaic. Their most recent choice of opponents received its fair share of bad press, no doubt about it. Dereck Chisora, who is penciled in to face Wladimir Klitschko on April 30th, is a no-namer and a rookie, and Odlanier Solis, scheduled for a bout with Vitali on March 19th, is an over bloated cruiserweight with no power in his hands. But are they really as horrible as people make them out to be?
Seems like whenever the Klitschkos fight, they make it look easy. In almost all of their fights, they have demolished opponents without possibly allowing for a single physical threat. Boring or not, they have a developed a winning code that no brawling wizard has been able to hack (lately). Undefeated fighters, big fighters, fast fighters, Champions with all kinds of belts – all have fallen. It has gotten so bad that if you lose an anonymous decision to a Klitschko, you are some kind of a super-hero (like Shannon Briggs, for instance). The Ukrainians are head and shoulders above everyone else in the division, but that does not mean that the rest of the competition is horrible. They are just that good.
Look at Chisora, for instance. The man is 14-0 in his outings, a great kisser (just ask Carl Baker), a devout Mike Tyson fan (check with Paul Butlin), and a British and Commonwealth Champion. Jokes aside, he is better than most. If you don’t believe me, watch him destroy Danny Williams in a few rounds, and then follow up with a Sam Sexton fight, where he tirelessly picks the former Commonwealth Champion apart and knocks him out. This was his second bout with Sam Sexton; first time they saw each other he knocked him out, as well. The man is courageous, he thrives on challenge, and he is definitely the crème of the crop within the British fauna.
He has all the qualities to become a tough opponent for Wlad. He has really fast hands, a nice straight right, knows how to loop ‘em to get around the guard. Besides, at twenty six, he has a great stamina, and is not shy about letting the hands go. He is not you call a one-punch knockout artist, but the work rate and the right attitude, combined with decent power, definitely make him noteworthy. Dereck has that maniacal focus and, eccentric as he may be, comes in to win. Can we picture him as a world champion? Absolutely! John Ruiz has been a world champion for years, and so has Chris Byrd, both are around his size, and not nearly as complete of a package.
Now as for the likelihood of the upset, Chisora has as good of a chance as any. Judging by the conference they had prior to the December fight, he gotten under Wlad’s skin with the question of “Who do you love more, your Belts or your Girlfriend?” He is certainly not afraid to leave his head in the ring, but at the same time, judging from the five or six fights I had seen, his cocky and quizzical nature does not translate to foolish brashness.
There are a couple of obstacles that will make it tough for him to win this uphill battle, though. He is shorter, which gives Wlad a perfect opportunity to stick him with his jab all night. I would like to see a lot of head movement from Dereck to minimize the impact of that jab, the kind of bobbing and weaving Frazier used to do. He is a stubby type and that naturally makes his upper body more stationary, giving Wlad an easy target for those famous rights in the later rounds.
I would like to see Chisora stepping to the side to counter, when Wlad unloads a power shot, but I do not believe he is fast enough to pull it off. The biggest puzzle for this new kid on the block would be to break the distance that Wlad is comfortable with, and get him to trade in relatively close quarters. I say relatively, because Wlad will try to tie him up once he attempts to get closer, so ideally, he wants to be somewhere between his jab and his clinch, as impossible as it sound. The consolation is that it is no secret that Klitschko is not a body puncher, and, at least, Chisora will know what to cover. However, if he misses hard shots from Klitschko, like he did in the Sexton bout, it’s “bye, bye Kansas”.
Solis, who on the other hand is set to face Vitali, is also undefeated. He comes in with an impeccable amateur pedigree, with wins on his resume over David Haye (Stoppage!) and Sultan Ibragimov. His raw talent and extremely fast hands will be a problem for just about anyone. His wealth of ring experience, including several bouts with very tall boxers, like Julius Long and Kevin Burnett will serve him well in the upcoming fight with the Champ. Like Chisora, he is undefeated and very, very confident. I like his explosiveness, and the preciseness of his punches. As for those, who doubt his power, I recommend revisiting the Jikurashvili fight, where his crushing body blows crumbled Mamuka, the undefeated fighter at the time, physically and mentally (He never fought again).
There are some things that could use improvement. He is not very light on his feet, and that may be attributed to the fact that with his rather small 6’ 1½ frame, he comes in at around 265 lbs, which for most fighters would be so hindering they would barely be able to move around. This talented young man, however, remains virulent and fast, but his body, burdened by all the extra weight, becomes more stationary. I would really like to see him come in at a trim 230lb, but that may not be an option at this point. Because of his weight, he is easier to hit, and if Vitali gets to “extending”, he will extend all night, until Odlanier is extended on a stretcher. So, it will behoove Solis to break that distance, making it into a messy brawl. That will not be easy, given Klitschko’s conditioning; he will have to be chased all over the ring again and again, which requires tremendous stamina. On top of that, you cannot really prepare for Vitali’s odd, angular punching: no other human being punches like that, and it may be yet another reason why it will be next to impossible to get in close.
One unknown factor in this fight, of course, is Vitali’s age. Four Year hiatus or not, forty is right around the block for the graying champion. So, if he slows, or if his punches lose some of the luster, then Solis may be emboldened to get past his usually scorching defense. There will be no opportunity for the knockout, however, since Dr. Iron First does not know the feel of the canvass.
The conclusion is evident: we have two young, hungry and talented fighters, who will be bringing all they got to topple the champions in two thrilling battles. Will the old guard hold, or is it time for change? However the chips may fall, we wish all the fighters best of luck. May the best men win!