2019 Oct 12

Oleksandr Usyk vs. Chazz Whiterspoon

12 rounds, heavyweights

Chazz Whiterspoon has stepped in on 4 days notice and he says he has been in the gym for a while now so although it is not ideal to take a fight on such a short notice, he is not totally out of shape. He has been in discussion earlier this year with matchroom to step in as a replacement for other fights so they have had him in consideration which is probably why he got the call. They also chose him because they wanted a heavyweight big and strong that atleast will be there trying to win and will give it his all. We believe Witherspoon is coming to fight. He knows just how good Usyk is and he knows that he will not outbox the unified cruiserweight champion. Witherspoon is hoping that he somehow can catch Usyk in the middle of an exchange and hurt him. Witherspoon does punch hard enough if he can find the target clean. Usyk has been out of the ring for almost a year since he beat Tony Bellew. When it comes to Usyk´s qualities, he might just be the best cruiserweight since Evander Holyfield. He is just an incredible boxer that has it all and can do it all but it will be interesting to see how he fares at heavyweight because it really is different.

Usyk is several levels above Witherspoon but Usyk fights to the level of his opposition sometimes. Usyk will find his target early and often and he will basically land at will against the much slower Witherspoon. Usyk is not really a one-punch knockout artist and he does not try to be, but he does hit hard enough and although he will box and not take chances with his bigger opponent we see him wearing down Witherspoon with a big amount of punches landed and getting the stoppage around rounds 7-9. The Pick is oleksandr Usyk to win this fight by ko/tko.

The Pick: Oleksandr Usyk ko/tko 7-9
Odds: +500 (6.00 decimal odds)
Units: 5
Start time: 9pm ET / 6pm PT