Derek Chisora faces Otto Wallin on Saturday night so check out Chris Oliver's big-fight preview and tips.
Boxing betting tips: Chisora vs Wallin
2pts Otto Wallin to win by decision 7/4 (Hills, Paddy Power, Betfair)
After 18 years as a professional, the turbulent and entertaining career of Derek Chisora nears its end as he faces Otto Wallin on Saturday night, live on TNT Sports.
Despite Chisora’s 49th contest being billed as ‘The Last Dance’, he has expressed his desire to make it to 50 fights and this is more likely to be his last fight in the UK. With that in mind, he will have no shortage of support at Manchester’s Co-op Live Arena as his army of fans on these shores bid him farewell and thank him for the memories.
While some grew tired of his unpredictable antics outside of the ring a long time ago, plenty have lapped it up over the years and, with excitement pretty much guaranteed when he gets inside the ropes, he has become a real cult hero of British boxing.
It’s 13 years this month since Chisora (35-13) fought Vitali Klitschko for the WBC title in Germany, and he has been mixing with the best around ever since. He has generally come up short against the big names, but very few have had an easy time of things against the man who aptly goes by the nickname of ‘War’.
Undoubtedly a fine servant to the sport, nobody would have begrudged Chisora a ‘soft touch’ for what should be his final outing in Britain, but Wallin is no ‘gimme’ farewell fight. Far from it, as the Swede is a very capable opponent and he is an 8/15 favourite to spoil the party for Chisora, who is as big as 2/1.
Chisora v Wallin: Big fight details and TV coverage
- When and where: Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, February 8
- Start time: Undercard 1800 GMT, Main Event approx 2200 GMT
- TV channel: TNT Sports & DAZN
CLICK HERE to bet on the big fight with Sky Bet
Having only lost to Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, Wallin (27-2) famously caused a huge gash to the former’s eye in their bloody 12-rounder in April 2019. He ultimately lost a decision that night, and then never really got going when retired by his corner with a broken nose after five rounds against Joshua 14 months ago. He was expected to give ‘AJ’ plenty to think about, but he had the look of a man who remembered all too well their many rounds of sparring together and his two defeats to the Brit as an amateur.
However, Wallin shouldn’t be judged on that Joshua performance, and he was on a fine run of form going into that contest, winning six on the spin and claiming the notable scalp of Murat Gassiev just three months earlier. Gassiev had only previously lost the brilliant Oleksandr Usyk at cruiserweight and moved up to heavyweight to chase the rematch, but Wallin produced a fine display to outbox his man for a split decision win.
With plenty of eyeballs on this one, it’s a big opportunity for Wallin to get his career back on track and I fancy the youth and skills of the 34-year-old to prevail against Chisora.
Now 41, most observers would like to have seen Chisora hang the gloves up a long time ago, so it seemed like the perfect way to go out when he landed a unanimous decision victory over domestic rival Joe Joyce in July. However, he immediately expressed his intentions to fight on and it’s hard to overlook just how painful that fight was to watch when it comes to assessing Chisora’s chances this weekend.
Not wanting to take anything away from Chisora’s victory that night, but I believe it was more a case of how far Joyce had slipped than anything special that the winner did. Joyce was being talked about as the next heavyweight champion prior to his back-to-back stoppage defeats to Zhilei Zhang in 2023, and he looked a shadow of his former self when losing to Chisora.
Despite getting his hand raised on that occasion, it was very evident just how much Chisora has slowed down over the years and, while still a handful when he commits to his attacks, he can only do so in short spurts these days.
This could play perfectly into the hands of Wallin, who does the basics well and boxes tidily from the southpaw stance. He moves very nicely for someone over 6’5” tall and throws plenty of leather, with his left jab being especially active. His output and quick feet could be a real problem for Chisora, who may well have slowed even further since the Joyce fight in July.
History tells us that, unless you’re Tyson Fury, nobody has an easy night’s work against Chisora, but I find it very hard to go with the veteran here given just how many miles he has on the clock. The Finchley man has only been stopped four times and Wallin isn’t noted for his power, so this looks like it will go deep, and I would be surprised if we don’t hear the final bell.
Therefore, Wallin to win by decision is the call at 7/4, which has the potential to get bigger on fight day if the patriotic pounds come in for the home fighter. Some sentimental judging in Chisora’s favour is a bit of concern, but we must assume it will be scored fairly and, if that is the case, I see Wallin outboxing a brave, game but slow Chisora to claim a victory on the scorecards.
CLICK HERE to back Otto Wallin to win on points with Sky Bet
Chisora v Wallin: The full fight card
- Derek Chisora vs Otto Wallin; Heavyweight
- Willy Hutchinson vs Zach Parker; Light heavyweight
- Masood Abdullah vs Zak Miller; Featherweight, for the Commonwealth title
- Jack Rafferty vs Reece MacMillan; Super lightweight, for the British and Commonwealth titles
- Walter Fury vs Joe Hardy; Middleweight
- Nathan Heaney vs Sofiane Khati; Middleweight
- Nelson Hysa vs Todorche Cvetkov; Heavyweight, for the WBO European title
- Joe Cooper vs Artjom Spatar; Middleweight
- Lewis Williams vs Cristian Uwaka; Heavyweight
- Jermaine Dhliwayo vs Mark Butler; Super featherweight
- Leighton Birchall vs Stephen Jackson; Super bantamweight
