Dave Oakes previews the packed Mitchell/Katsidis undercard, featuring the British heavyweight title fight between Danny Williams and Derek Chisora.  Check out Dave's preview of the main event: Kevin Mitchell vs Michael Katsidis Preview

Danny Williams’ last hurrah is the highlight of a packed undercard from Upton Park. He defends his British heavyweight belt against Derek Chisora in what will be the final fight of a remarkable career.

Williams, 41-8 (31KO’s), has had a rollercoaster career, he’s won British and Commonwealth titles and fell short at world level against Vitali Klitschko, but he’s best known for knocking out Mike Tyson.

It would take me most of the week to write about all of the things that have happened to Williams in his career - thankfully his story is well known enough for me to skip recapping it all and concentrate solely on what will happen when he meets Chisora.

Chisora, 12-0 (7KO’s), blows hot and cold and has never really impressed me. He has got ability but seems to be mentally fragile and lacks the hunger needed to succeed at the highest level. He’s at his best when he’s aggressive and puts his punches together, but this doesn’t always happen and he can be painful to watch when he’s in a lethargic mood.

There’s no doubting that Chisora starts as a strong favourite, he has the advantage in speed, stamina and freshness. We’ve yet to see whether or not Chisora can take a punch and Williams can hit hard, but the main problem for Williams is whether or not he’ll be sharp enough and fast enough to get into punching range.

Williams’ diet and training methods have been criticised his entire career and this fight will be no different after he decided to train himself rather than employ someone to do the job properly. There have been worrying rumours that Williams hasn’t had any sparring in preparation, I hope those rumours aren’t true but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were.

Carl Baker was both fighters last opponent, Chisora walked through him in two rounds, whilst Williams was dropped badly and lost on points in the Prizefighter tournament. Williams looked to be completely shot against Baker, his punch resistance had been on the wane for some time but I don’t think anyone expected him to perform as badly as he did against Baker. At times he looked horrendously out of his depth against a boxer he would’ve destroyed in his prime.

I’d love to see Williams put in one final big performance but I feel this is a fight too far for him. The way he’s looked over the past two years, along with his apparent lack of preparation, makes me believe he could get taken out early.

This is a big chance for Chisora; he’s got all the tools needed to beat this version of Danny Williams, the question remains as to how much he wants it. If he goes into the ring wanting to destroy Williams, then he should win inside eight rounds. If he boxes too cautiously and switches off like he has done in the past, it could go the distance.

The only chance I give Williams is that he lands an early knockout blow; he’s not going to be able to outbox or outwork Chisora, I’m certain of that.

Olympic gold medallist James DeGale takes part in his first twelve rounder. He takes on Dudley’s Sam Horton in a fight he should win at a canter.

Horton, 15-1 (2KO’s), is a decent boxer but isn’t in the same class as DeGale and hasn’t got the punch power to pull off a shock. Horton was unbeaten in his first thirteen fights but suffered a bad knockout defeat to Cello Renda in September last year. Horton was hurt early in the second round and unwisely chose to stand and trade with Renda, a renowned knockout artist. He was heavily dropped twice, the second of which being one of the more spectacular knockouts of the year.

DeGale, 6-0 (4KO’s), doesn’t look to be a massive puncher but is fast, accurate and unyielding when he’s got an opponent going. I’ve been impressed with the way he’s adapting to the professional ranks, I thought he’d struggle after being more of a tap and run styled amateur.

I can’t see the fight lasting the distance; DeGale is a few levels above Horton and shouldn’t have too many problems. I can see Horton putting in a brave effort but getting caught too much and being stopped before the midway point.

The unbeaten Frankie Gavin, a former world amateur champion, takes on Gavin Tait in his seventh outing. Gavin has looked superb in his first half dozen fights and shouldn’t have any problems dealing with Tait.

Tait, 8-8 (3KO’s), is usually durable but has been very inactive of late, having boxed just once in the past 20 months. I can see Gavin being too fast, too skilful and too aggressive for Tait to cope with. I can see Gavin overwhelming Tait and stopping him within a couple of rounds.

Matthew Hall returns to the ring for the first time since losing his Commonwealth title to Anthony Small. He faces Tony Randell, who’s been on a good run of form recently and impressively out pointed Kevin Concepcion in his last fight.

It should be a decent test for Hall, although he should win without too many problems if he can find a return to the form that helped him beat Bradley Pryce to claim the Commonwealth title.

Randell will be confident of the upset but I can see Hall landing his trademark hooks to body and head to break Randell down inside the distance.

Other well known boxers and hot prospects on the undercard include Ricky Burns, Billy Joe Saunders, Liam and Ryan Walsh, George Michael Carmen and Freddie Turner.

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