Brixton´s Danny Williams will defend his British heavyweight title against undefeated Derek Chisora on February the 13th at the Wembley Arena, London.
26 year old Chisora steps in as a replacement for Commonwealth heavyweight champion Sam Sexton, who has had to withdraw from the fight due to sustaining a bad cut to his hand during training. 36 year old Williams recently claimed to be a “shot fighter”, and is adamant that win lose or draw, this will be his last fight.
Williams and Chisora were scheduled to meet last year, but Chisora missed out on his opportunity as a result of a four months suspension handed out by the BBBC for biting opponent Paul Butlin in a bout last May. In addition to the ban, Chisora was fined £2,500. He returned to the ring in October last year and stopped Georgian Zurab Noniashvili in eight rounds.
Commenting on the biting incident, Williams quipped;
“Chisora has got a reputation as a biter, but then so did Mike Tyson and look what happened to him. I don’t care whether I fight Sam Sexton, Derek Chisora or King Kong, I’m going to war one last time and I’ll put it all on the line.”
Williams (41-8, 31 ko´s) has been the stalwart of the British heavyweight scene for the last decade. The highlight of his career was bludgeoning Mike Tyson to defeat in four rounds back in 2004. That win earned him a shot at WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko. A brave but outclassed Willaims was stopped in eight rounds.
In a fifteen year career, Big Danny has also posted wins over Audley Harrison, Matt Skelton, Scott Gammer, Michael Sprott and Julius Francis.
Williams will enter the ring against Chisora in the poorest form of his career, with two defeats in his last three fights. He was knocked out by current European heavyweight champion Albert Sosnowski in eight rounds in November 2008, and he suffered the embarrassment of losing to novice Carl Baker last time out in the first round of 2009´s heavyweight Prizefighter tournament. Williams was down twice, and lost the three round decision.
Zimbabwe born, Finchley raised Chisora (11-0, 6 ko´s) is rated as one of the brightest prospects in what is a buoyant UK heavyweight scene. The 2006 ABA super-heavyweight champion, Chisora is a solid boxer-puncher. His best win to date is a sixth round TKO over Williams original opponent Sam Sexton in what remains Sexton´s only defeat to date.
At 6´1´´ and around 250 lbs, Chisora will be giving away height and weight to the 6´3´´, 260+ lbs Williams. This coupled with Chisora´s limited experience makes this a tough fight to call. Chisora has only boxed eight rounders so far in his professional career. Williams is a massive step up in class. A lot will depend on how much Williams has left, and how much punch resistance he has retained.
Chisora, who is nick-named Del Boy, and has taken to driving a Reliant Robin like his hero Derrick Trotter from the comedy series Only Fools and Horses, is understandably ecstatic at getting this opportunity;
“I wasn’t expecting to get this chance, but I’ll take it with both hands. It was my own fault the fight with Williams didn’t go ahead, and I’ve been kicking myself ever since. This is a massive opportunity to really make a statement and become the top man in Britain.”
