Heavyweight contenders Dillian Whyte and Dereck Chisora will rematch on Saturday at the O2 Arena in London. At one point, it appeared the fight would be streamed on DAZN, but instead, the battle between English heavyweights will be shown on Showtime.
If you’re not able to get to a TV, you can live stream the event using the Showtime mobile app. Showtime is currently offering a free trial so this might be a good time to give it a spin.
According to Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, he expects Whyte and Chisora to climb into the ring around 5:30 pm ET.
Approx 10.30pm https://t.co/ioSA3XCg8i
— Eddie Hearn (@EddieHearn) December 22, 2018
Whyte and Chisora’s first bout took place in 2016, and it was not only the best heavyweight fight of 2016, but it was also one of the most action-packed in years. Whyte eeked out a split-decision win, but both men had the other hurt on multiple occasions.
Despite how tough the first fight was, Whyte insists the rematch will be a much easier fight for him.
“I’ve changed a lot and improved over the last two years since the last fight,” Whyte said. “One thing I’ve improved is my consistency. That’s the main thing. I’ve been consistent. I’ve had hard fights, I’ve had boring fights, I’ve had exciting fights, but I’ve been consistent.”
I’m assuming he meant he’s been active, but perhaps he meant he’s been consistently inconsistent with the tenor of his bouts. In any case, since defeating Chisora in the first meeting, Whyte has scored KO wins over Malcolm Tann and Lucas Browne, and he’s scored decision wins over Robert Helenius and former WBO champion Joseph Parker.
Chisora has also been active, but a tad less successful. He’s gone 3-1 since the Whyte bout. Most recently he scored an eighth-round TKO over Carlos Takam to set up the rematch. Whyte is the minus-350 favorite and Chisora is a plus-265 underdog.
A win for Whyte would almost certainly land him a title shot in his next fight–or something very close. Chisora has always been a bit of an underachiever, but when he’s right–as he appeared to be at the weigh-ins, he can be a tough fighter to handle.
The appeal of this fight is almost entirely based on the brawl they produced in 2016, but we’re fooling ourselves if we think we’re going to get a rematch that is half as good as the original, but even if it falls short, the fight could definitely end with a memorable KO.
Once its over, I’ll have a recap, analysis and Twitter reaction from the boxing community. Stay tuned.
