Dereck Chisora is perhaps one punch away from gatecrashing the heavyweight title picture if he upsets the form book and overcomes the fancied Oleksandr Usyk at the SSE Arena, Wembley, on Saturday night.
WBO No.1 contender Usyk is pushing his own heavyweight title agenda and could force champion Anthony Joshua to fight him or relinquish that crown in 2021, with the Brit planning to face WBC king Tyson Fury for all the belts next year.
But an unlikely Chisora victory would torch Usyk’s claims and place his own name in the title frame.
“There is no official ruling from the WBO but, basically, if Chisora beats Usyk he becomes the mandatory challenger for Joshua which is madness in itself,” promoter Eddie Hearn, who represents Joshua, Chisora and Usyk, told Sky Sports.
“Liken it to Alexander Povetkin vs Dillian Whyte. Chisora is basically where Povetkin [was] – a top 10 fighter at the back-end of his career, he has fought for a world title and come up short, had some great wins to revive himself.
“They are both fighting mandatory challengers. If you beat the mandatory challenger, like Povetkin did, then you become the mandatory challenger.
“[Chisora’s manager] David Haye is lobbying [WBO president] Paco Valcarcel to say: ‘Usyk is the mandatory for Joshua – if we win, we take that spot’. They should.
“Usyk is No 1 so if Chisora wins, he should be No 1. It’s a remarkable turnaround in his career.
“Chisora has put every drop of his soul into this camp and will leave everything in the ring trying to pull off one of the greatest upsets ever by a British fighter.”