David Haye believes Derek Chisora has 'gained signifcant advantage' over Oleksandr Usyk ahead of heavyweight clash

David Haye believes Derek Chisora has benefitted from working with 'several tricky southpaws' over delay period to gain advantage over Oleksandr Usyk

Derek Chisora's manager David Haye believes that Chisora can overcome Oleksandr Usyk in their heavyweight clash on October 31st, and has highlighted the preparations of 'WAR' against top-level southpaw's during the break as a key factor in the fight.

The fight was initially scheduled for the 23rd May but was delayed due to the ongoing pandemic, giving the Finchley heavyweight extra time to prepare a detailed of plan of how he will defeat the former undisputed cruiserweight champion.

The Ukranian will make the step up to heavyweight to take on Chisora having never been defeated in his professional career to date, defeating the likes of Michael Hunter, Tony Bellew and Mairis Briedis before he switched weight division in 2019.

However, Haye believes that Chisora can take advantage of the extended preparation they have been working on in the gym, and maintaints that the 200 lb division will be difficult for Usyk due to the size and power difference he will experience in his opponents.

He told Sky Sports: "

“I believe his chances of winning on October 31 are significantly higher than earlier in the year, because he has spent every day, effectively, focusing on a tricky southpaw. In his fight with [Senad] Gashi (in April 2019), he wasn’t quite there. You saw the improvement against Artur Szpilka, who was much more effective with his counter-punching but that was unable to affect Dereck. He put the pressure on him, Dereck let his hands go and really did a number on him. That is the type of Dereck we need.

“Since that fight he has drummed himself with southpaws, tricky guys, so come fight night, he is able to put 12 rounds of action together.”

Athough the former British cruiserweight admits that Usyk warrants the status as favourite ahead of the clash, he has refused to rule out a shock in the bout and underlined Alexander Povetkin's shock knockout against Dillian Whyte.

“If you look at his record, what he has done as an amateur, world champion, Olympic gold medallist, undisputed, never lost, he has won every single belt there is to win,” Haye said of the Ukrainian. “He has done it all and Dereck has lost nine fights. If you look at his record against Dereck’s, you only think there is going to be one winner.

“But what Usyk doesn’t understand is that the heavyweight division is very different to every other division in boxing. It’s about size, it’s about weight and, ask Povetkin, it takes one shot to turn the tide. Anything can happen in the heavyweight division. The gaps he used are getting filled in. He is going to cause an upset and he is going to shock so many people, because he has dedicated his life to it.

“He knows this is his last chance. He is 36, against the No 1 WBO mandatory challenger. He has to take that from him and he is then in the top five in the world and we are talking about huge mega fights against the big names.”

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