Ukrainian beat Derek Chisora on points at Wembley Arena on Saturday night
Oleksandr Usyk showed technical brilliance in gaining a unanimous points win in his heavyweight contest with Britain’s Derek Chisora at Wembley Arena but former world champion David Haye believes the Ukrainian lacks the explosive punch to dominate the division.
Londoner Haye won titles at cruiserweight and heavyweight and Usyk has made the same progression through the weights.
“Usyk showed just how clever he is, how well he moves and creates angles,” said Haye. “But when you step up against the very biggest guys in the sport, you need that one-punch explosive power to be able to hurt the kings of the division. He is giving away a lot of weight and it may be the vital factor in challenging the likes of Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. It remains to be seen whether he carries the power to hurt those guys.”
Olympic gold medallist Usyk was rated 117-112, 115-113, 115-113 on the judges’ cards to maintain his undefeated record and he answered doubts about his size by using clever footwork to outscore Chisora in an exhausting contest but was unable to get a stoppage against the durable Finchley fighter.
Usyk, 33, remains the World Boxing Organisation mandatory challenger to world champion Anthony Joshua, who watched from ringside, and against whom he intends to fight in 2021.
Usyk weathered an early storm when Chisora, with bullish aggression, tried to make the most of his three-stone weight advantage, but as the fight progressed, Usyk’s punch output won him round after round.
“All I was thinking about was what I wanted to do,” Usyk said. “I am very thankful for Derek giving me this opportunity. Chisora is a big guy, a hard guy. I was expecting a fight like that. I don’t just want to win a world title, I want to be the undisputed champion. Anthony Joshua, how are you? I am coming for you.”
Chisora criticised the judges’ verdict. “I feel great, I was pushing the pace,” he said. “I’m just disappointed with the result, gutted. In the heavyweight game, you have to fight not box. I believe I gave a couple of rounds away, but the judges saw it a different way.”
Haye also felt his man had been hard done by.
“Derek did enough in that fight to at least be awarded a draw on the judges cards,” Haye said. “I’m really proud of Derek. He was written off by everyone and put in a tremendous performance. There is no talk of him retiring, he is just disappointed. We still believe he can go on and win a world title.”
Earlier on the Wembley card, Savannah Marshall produced the performance of her career against fellow Briton Hannah Rankin to claim the World Boxing Organisation middleweight world title, registering a seventh stoppage in her unbeaten nine-fight professional career.
Elsewhere, American Mikaela Mayer claimed the WBO female super featherweight world title by unanimous points decision over Ewa Brodnicka in Las Vegas and called on Britain’s World Boxing Council champion Terri Harper to face her in a unification contest.