David Haye is fancied to outclass Dereck Chisora on Saturday night, according to our expert Derek Bilton.
RECOMMENDED BETS
4pts Haye to beat Chisora by KO, TKO or Disqualification at 5/4 (General).
2pts Haye v Chisora under 3.5 rounds at 9/2 (Ladbrokes).
5.5pts Khan v Garcia fight not to go the distance at 10/11 (William Hill).
It's controversial, it's contentious, and it's happening this weekend as former WBA heavyweight champion David Haye goes toe-to-toe with fellow Londoner Dereck Chisora in a fight that has quite literally divided boxing.
Both men are currently without a BBBofC license after a violent confrontation at a post-fight press conference in Munich last February, the low lights of which including Haye punching Chisora while holding a glass bottle which led to 'Del Boy' then threatening to "shoot" his rival.
The noble art it certainly wasn't and as a result both men were rightly lambasted by the media and boxing authorities in this country.
Haye of course was without a license after 'retiring' following his points defeat in his heavyweight unification fight against Wladimir Klitschko last year while Chisora's license was immediately withdrawn.
Controversy sells however and given the current moribund state of the heavyweight division it wasn't long before people were banging the drum for Haye v Chisora II, this time with gloves in the squared circle.
The British Board of course were having none of it so, quite incredibly, this weekend we have two high profile London heavyweights boxing at Upton Park under the jurisdiction of the Luxembourg Boxing Federation.
Fabled US sports writer Jimmy Cannon, who once labelled boxing "the red light district of sports" will no doubt be turning in his grave.
Whether you approve of the bout or not two things are certain. It's happening and it's going to make both of these fistic outlaws rich men.
Haye was a 4/9 favourite when the fight was first announced and his price has contracted to 4/11 at time of writing. This might be due to the fact that Chisora has lost three of his last four despite a decent start to a career that began back in 2007.
All of those losses however have come against good men in meaningful title fights. A woefully out of shape Chisora surrendered his unbeaten record in a British and Commonwealth title clash to Tyson Fury on points in July last year while two fights later he was on the wrong end of a rancid split decision against Robert Helenius for the European title in Helsinki.
Chisora then travelled to Munich for a WBC heavyweight title fight against Vitali Klitschko. 'Del Boy' covered himself in glory during the fight having a real go before slipping to a points defeat.
However his pre and post-fight antics (scrapping with Haye, slapping Vitali at the weigh-in, spitting in the face of Wladimir before the fight) made him a pariah of the fight game and defeat this weekend might signal the end of his career at the top level.
Chisora is game and can hold a shot. However he is also ponderous and fairly one-dimensional.
It's interesting that Haye has come in light (210lbs) for this fight. Will he look to box at range and coast to a decision win as he did in his WBA title winning effort against Nikolay Valuev or will he use his superior speed to try and bewitch and befuddle Chisora?
My gut instinct is that Haye will win the fight well and win it inside the distance. Chisora is still something of a novice. In the same year he turned pro, 'The Hayemaker' travelled to France to win WBC and WBA cruiserweight titles against Jean-Marc Mormeck.
There is obvious beef between the pair and I don't expect Haye to freeze on the night. He's big enough and fast enough to dominate Chisora and his KO ratio of 85 percent speaks largely for itself.
I think it could be fascinating while it lasts but when the dust settles I expect Haye to do a job on 'Del Boy' in no more than five rounds.
Elsewhere on a busy weekend of boxing Amir Khan's light-welterweight unification fight with Danny Garcia has slipped under the radar somewhat.
It's a terrific scrap as Garcia brings and unbeaten record and his WBC title to the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas to meet British star Khan, who has just been reinstated as WBA boss in the wake of Lamont Peterson's failed drugs test.
Garcia gets the gig courtesy of his recent win over a faded Erik Morales in Texas.
However his 24-0 (14) stats are impressive and the 24-year-old has been making plenty of noise in the run up to this. Not quite as much as his trainer/father Angel Garcia, who has seemingly got right under Khan's skin with a series of uncouth press conference barbs.
So much so that Khan went on record this week with the following "Garcia's team can say whatever they want. I promise you - I have never said this at a press conference - I will knock Danny Garcia out and win the title".
Both men are pumped but while Khan has proved himself in the ring by beating the likes of Marcos Maidana and Zab Judah, Garcia at his stage is very much a work in progress and nobody is quite sure how good he is.
Both men like to trade and both men leave themselves open at times. Khan has been stopped before of course and has wobbled several times in a career that began back in 2005.
The worry for Team Khan is that their man goes in totally gung-ho and ends up on his rump. However I fancy Freddie Roach will impart the necessary advice for Khan to get the job done.
I see Khan winning this as Garcia is a little green and again don't feel that the judges will be necessary. He is 5/4 to win inside schedule and that looks a fair price, as are current 10/11 quotes that that fight won't hear the final bell, and the latter is where we'll go for the best bet.
