Dereck Chisora vs. Carlos Takam Fight Preview and Prediction to Win
When: Saturday, July 28, 2017
Where: O2 Arena, London, England
TV: Sky Sports
Weight Class: Heavyweight
By Loot, Boxing Handicapper, Lootmeister.com
Dereck Chisora, 28-8 (20 KOs), London, England
Vs.
Carlos Takam, 35-4-1 (27 KOs), France
Betting Odds: Dereck Chisora (+145), Carlos Takam (-165)
Dereck Chisora takes on Carlos Takam in heavyweight action from the O2 Arena in London on July 28. The bout will serve as the chief support for the Dillian Whyte-Joseph Parker main event. And being on the same card makes this an important fight between these two big men, both looking for another shot at the big-time. Both men have shared the ring with some top opposition, without ever quite getting over the hump. The winner of this fight will have options.
Despite having been at a high level for a longer period, Chisora is actually three years Takam's junior at 34 years of age. Both men are listed at 6'1" and are robust big men, not what you would call small heavyweights. Each man was born in Africa and then relocated to Europe, with Chisora coming from Zimbabwe before moving to London, while the French-based Takam hails from Cameroon. Each man also has a lot of contradictory results to break down for the purposes of handicapping this match. It's really a mish-mosh of different things to take into account.
Chisora has been through a ton over the last 6-7 years—some good and some bad. After 14 straight wins to begin his career, he lost to future champ Tyson Fury in 2011. He then fought unbeaten and touted Robert Helenius, where Helenius was given a gift decision. The loss actually boosted Chisora's stock and he next fought Vitali Klitschko for the WBC title, losing a decision but showing his mettle and overall worth in the process. A vicious KO loss to David Haye set Chisora back and gave him his third straight loss. He rebuilt with some nice wins, before a 2014 TKO loss to Fury in a rematch cooled him down some. Five more wins followed, before Chisora lost a split decision to top contender Kubrat Pulev in May of 2016.
Since then, it's hard to gauge where Chisora really stands. He scored a perfunctory win after losing closely to Pulev, before taking on Whyte in a big all-England showdown, won narrowly by Whyte on a split nod. In November of last year, Chisora dropped another close one to unbeaten German prospect Agit Kayabel. So the losses have started to pile up a bit. But a closer look shows that he might still be the Chisora of old in a lot of ways. He is a man who fights with a wide range of effectiveness from fight to fight. Sometimes, his conditioning is good, other times, it leaves something to be desired. Those trying to make a case to write off Chisora still have to deal with some differing data. After all, Whyte is considered one of the more-dangerous contenders in the world and there was almost nothing to separate him from Chisora in their fight. At his best, he's still a handful, especially at this level—a high level but not quite the top echelon.
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Takam has been through an eventful last several years, as well. His last appearance was in October of last year, when he was stopped in 10 rounds by Anthony Joshua in a title try. Fighting as a late replacement, Takam took Joshua as far as he had been taken by lasting into the tenth. Already 37, Takam needs to start having some good things happen again and it has to start here. After turning pro back in 2005, it took him a while to gain some traction in his career, not making much of a splash until 2013-14. A draw against Mike Perez and a win over veteran contender Tony Thompson set up a shot at Alexander Povetkin in a title-eliminator bout, where Takam was flattened in the 10th round of what was a good fight. Three wins later, he got a shot at Joseph Parker, losing a decision some felt could have gone his way.
One can sense just by looking at both fighter's recent track-records that it's hard to gauge exactly where both men are in their careers. Takam might be the steadier overall force, while Chisora has a higher ceiling. And while Chisora has certainly taken his share of knocks and losses over the years, something tells me he is a tad fresher than Takam. We've seen Chisora bounce back time and again to put forth nice performances. Takam is a bit of a question mark after the loss to Joshua and between that and his loss to Povetkin, he's been beaten up a few times now and at 37, what can we expect to surface in the ring come July 28?
Takam has the better record. He hasn't lost recently to fighters no one has heard of, like Chisora has. I'm also not sure he's reached the same heights Chisora has gotten to in his career. Even in losing efforts, Chisora has been heavily-competitive with the likes of Klitschko and Dillian Whyte, among others. At their best, I'd say Chisora is a better fighter—an aggressive, hard-hitting, hard-to-deter foe who fights with a lot of spirit. It's just that you don't always get that version of Chisora.
Takam is a veteran and has fought big fights on the road before. But this being in London at the O2 Arena, a venue where Chisora has previously fought, it could be an advantage for the Englishman. Chisora is far from being a bankable commodity in boxing betting. His conditioning, spirit, and motivation vary quite a bit from outing to outing. But I like his greater activity of late, in addition to the fact that he has fought well in some recent outings. I'm going with the underdog in this. I'm taking Dereck Chisora.
Loot's Pick to Win the Fight: I'm betting on Dereck Chisora at +145 betting odds. Bet this fight for FREE by taking advantage of a massive 100% sign-up bonus on your first deposit of $100 to $500 at GTBets!
