Derek Chisora vs Otto Wallin Predictions: Once more into the breach for Del Boy

‘Del Boy’ Derek Chisora embarks on his retirement tour this Saturday, February 8 against Otto Wallin. The popular heavyweight will headline the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester in a fight being termed his ‘Last Dance’. TNT Sports will screen the action live.

Here are my predictions ahead of this tasty heavyweight tussle.

Derek Chisora vs Otto Wallin Odds

Chisora is the main attraction in this fight and the reason the arena will be full. But he does start as the underdog at 15/8. Wallin is your 4/9 favourite, with youth being favoured over experience in the markets. A draw between the pair is priced at 16/1.

Fight Preview

Despite being branded as ‘The Last Dance’, this bout is not set to be Chisora’s last. Instead, the Jordan-invoking tagline is being used to stress that this is Big Derek’s last fight in the UK. The 41-year-old has said he wants to bow out at 50 professional fights, with this outing being his 49th.

It truly will be the end of an era when Chisora finally hangs up the gloves. The social media bedroom-dwellers sniff at the 13 losses on his record. But Chisora is a throwback to a time where the only ‘0’ people talked about was the smoke rings being blown from the tobacco-stained bleachers.

‘Del Boy’ has always felt like a transplant from another age. The “have gloves, will travel” innocence shot through with a killer instinct. Chisora isn’t special because he was ever the best. He is special because he was willing to fight anyone, anywhere and always gave a good account of himself in doing so.

Going against Chisora is the fact people often cite the Tyson Fury trilogy above everything due to its profile. ‘The Gypsy King’ thrice-defeated Chisora with relative comfort, knocking him out twice. 

But I’d venture that Fury was one of the few foes to comprehensively master the awkward Finchley puncher. Vitali Klitschko certainly didn’t during that feverish, frenetic and fraught night in Munich. ‘Dr Ironfist’ might have retained his WBC belt, but Chisora became a sensation with his committed performance and crunching body hooks. The fracas with David Haye afterwards only added to the intrigue, even if we all pretended to clutch pearls in order to hide our fascination.

The two fights with Dillian Whyte were thrilling affairs that pushed ‘The Bodysnatcher’ to his limit. Few heavyweights have given Oleksandr Usyk as much to think about as Derek, who dropped a decision to the current unified heavyweight champion back in 2020.

Chisora’s record is pock-marked with close decision defeats that most observers feel he should have been awarded. Joseph Parker, Whyte, Kubrat Pulev and Robert Helenius have all been the beneficiaries of close calls against the two-time world title contender.

But not enough is made of Chisora’s fine wins. The ex-European champion has stopped Carlos Takam, David Price, Artur Szpilka, Malik Scott and Danny Williams. Chisora owns points wins over Kevin Johnson, Pulev in the rematch, Gerald Washington and, perhaps most impressively, Joe Joyce.

Granted, ‘The Juggernaut’ has faded. But the fact Chisora was able to outscore the Olympic silver medallist who many once tipped to rule the world is impressive. Chisora has been fielding calls to retire for at least five years now. But beating Joyce quietened that talk and even saw Chisora slide back into the world rankings.

Wallin has been a fixture in the sanctioning body listings for a while. Like Chisora, he is a quality fighter who is unfairly best-known for his losses. He pushed Fury to the limit back in 2019, putting on a star-making showing despite his loss. 

From there, the big Swede went on a run of six victories. Wallin beat a number of recognisable names, like Travis Kaufmann, former world title challenger Dominic Breazeale and ex-unified cruiserweight champion Murat Gassiev. 

Most of the other fighters Fury fought on the comeback trail faded from view. When was the last time you heard names like Sefer Seferi or Tom Schwarz? But Wallin performed well against ‘The Gypsy King’ and then backed it up in the following years. His efforts brought their own reward when he was matched in a money match with Anthony Joshua.

But this time, Wallin was not able to summon a performance to trouble a former heavyweight champion. AJ ripped the Swede apart, battering his quarry to such a degree that Wallin’s corner had no choice but to pull their man out after five rounds. 

It is hard to know how much Wallin has left, with his only fight since that defeat coming in a first-round knockout of the anonymous Onoriode Ehwarieme. But then we used to say things like that about Chisora. It is never prudent to write a heavyweight off.

Chisora is the quintessential example of that rule. The man has been tipped for retirement more often than The Rolling Stones, but like Mick and Keith he just keeps on rocking. The idea of him stopping still hasn’t sunk in. Of course, with this being boxing, it would be no shock if he extended this farewell tour as far as his 60th pro bout. But if this really is the last time for ‘Del Boy’ in the UK, you sense the old stager will want to go out with a bang. 

Derek Chisora vs Otto Wallin Full Card

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Derek Chisora vs Otto Wallin Prediction

It is difficult not to let emotion get in the way when it comes to this part. Chisora is a fighter that has thrilled, entertained, appalled and amused us for two decades. The sort of boxer who becomes part of the fabric of the game, despite never having won a world title or accomplished Hall of Fame-worthy feats.

British boxing would not be the same without ‘Del Boy’. But ultimately, that bell has to ring and a fight has to take place. 

Chisora is on a decent run of three wins from his last four outings. But those victories came against men far older and more shop-worn than Wallin. Joyce was the pick of the bunch but he had recently been struck down in two fights with Zhilei Zhang. 

Chisora can win this. He can make it extremely tough in there for Wallin. But thinking with my head rather than my heart, I think Wallin takes this one. I’m going with the visitor by decision at 6/4.

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