Derek Chisora & Alexander Dimitrenko: Who Has the Better Chance Against Wladimir Klitschko?

With James Toney now out of the running, WBO and IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko is without an opponent for his December 11 date. The leading candidates are now two European fighters in Ukrainian Alexander Dimitrenko, and Derek Chisora. Both have decent credentials, at least as far as heavyweights go, to be ranked in the Top 10 of most of the sanctioning bodies and RING magazine. But out of the two, who has the better chance to dethrone Wladimir Klitschko in two months?

Let’s start with Derek Chisora (14-0, 9 KOs) . At 26 years old with 14 fights, the UK hopeful is very young for today’s heavyweight division. He’s also fairly inexperienced, just turning pro in 2007. His claim to fame this year has been a dominating 2nd round TKO over a shot Danny Williams, and a 9th round TKO stoppage over Sam Sexton in his first defense. Style-wise, Chisora likes to come forward and throw multiple hooks in the trenches. He’s shown the ability to box at times, and uses decent upper body movement to slip jabs to get inside.

Aside from his inexperience with top contenders, the other question mark about Chisora is his stamina. He’s never went 12 rounds, and the first time he went nine was in his last bout against Sexton. While he was not completely gassed in that fight, Chisora was visibly tired.

Chisora-Sexton I

Chisora-Sexton II

28-year-old Alexander Dimitrenko (30-1, 20 KOs) has been a pro for nine years, but that timeframe has not matched him with solid opposition. Fighting nearly all his fights out of Germany, Dimitrenko has feasted on overmatched opponents, and a select number of American journeyman and past it contenders (Vaughn Bean, Danny Batchelder, Ross Puritty). His one step up in class was against American Eddie Chambers in July 2009. Chambers took the fight inside and chopped down the 6’7 Dimitrenko with short hooks to secure a lopsided decision win. Dimitrenko rebounded well with a dominant TKO win this summer against Yaroslav Zavorotnyy.

When he uses his height, Dimitrenko is a formidable opponent. The Ukrainian has a snappy jab that disrupted Eddie Chamber’s rhythm anytime he threw it. The punch also was extremely effective in his comeback bout. For a 6’7 fighter, Dimitrenko also has decent footwork and is not overly heavy on his feet.

Both Chisora and Dimitrenko would be heavy underdogs against Wladimir Klitschko. But between the two, I’d give the nod to Chisora to get a shot. Dimitrenko has the novelty of being equal in height to Klitschko, but that’s where the similarities end. Dimitrenko doesn’t fight tall. He compromises his height anytime he’s pressed, and doesn’t fight well out of clinches. Chisora has shown in recent fights the ability to work hooks while clinched, which would be an important skill against Wladimir Klitschko.

Neither fighter is skilled enough to outbox Wladimir Klitschko from the outside. The only chance is getting close, and between the potential challengers only Chisora has shown the ability to do what no one has done since Lamon Brewster’s huge upset in 2004.

Now if Derek Chisora has the chin to withstand the firepower that’ll be coming his way is another story.