Oleksandr Usyk moved a step closer to a world heavyweight title shot as he outboxed Derek Chisora at Wembley, but questions remain about whether he has the size and power to mix it with the best heavyweights in the world.

The former undisputed world cruiserweight champion only gave himself three out of ten for his performance, which seemed a harsh assessment. However, after the seemed to box Chisora to a standstill in the middle rounds, he failed to force the stoppage or subdue Chisora’s ambition.

The Londoner was convinced he had won, a view that seemed to be based more on the effort he put in, rather than the punches landed. Chisora never stopped trying and while he often looked wild, he did have his moments.

Usyk is No 1 contender to Anthony Joshua’s WBO title. Usyk was close to ringside for the fight and is unlikely to have got too worried.

In the main, though, Usyk dominated. His punch accuracy was the difference, but as much as he landed – and he landed a lot – he couldn’t break Chisora’s will.

“It’s a real test at heavyweight,” Usyk said. “Chisora is a big guy, a hard guy. I love boxing, it’s beautiful. I fought his fight. I was expecting a fight like that, an even tougher fight.”

The decision was unanimous, with Bob Williams making Usyk an overwhelming winner by 117-112, while Jan Christensen and Yury Koptsev both had it 115-113.

Chisora charged after Usyk at the opening bell as Usyk backed away, but it was a good start for Chisora as he landed with a couple of clubbing rights, while Usyk boxed off the backfoot.

The Ukrainian upped the pace at the start of the second, as he shortened up straight punches and chopping southpaw lefts. Twice Chisora missed wildly, but he kept throwing and one right landed cleanly as Usyk tried to pull his head back.

The third was a good one for Usyk, as he pressed the pace and beat Chisora to the punch repeatedly. But, in the fourth, that Chisora was starting to find his range, as he caught Usyk with two decent rights. Usyk was also on the floor briefly, although it was not ruled as knockdown as he seemed to trip over Chisora’s foot.

The angles Usyk was finding were baffling Chisora, as the Londoner was punished every time he missed. More and more, Usyk began to lead off. Chisora tried switching southpaw in the fifth round, but he looked tired when he went back to the corner.

There was another big effort by Chisora in the sixth, but Usyk was the more accurate. In the seventh, Chisora had success with a body shot, but got tagged by a hard left that rocked him to his boot and he fell back to the ropes, the bell sounding as Usyk looked to follow up.

Chisora took more stick in the eighth, remaining wary of Chisora’s power but piling on the points. Chisora had a better ninth and seemed to get a second wind in the tenth, as he marched forward trying to land. 

He pushed forward again the eleventh, but Usyk picked him off and pounded him. The twelfth saw another magnificent effort from Chisora, who was throwing punches right up to the final bell.

In giving his performance only three out of ten, he admitted he was not sure about whether he could make it as a top heavyweight. “I don’t know,” he said. “It’s [down to] fans, experts.

“My plans is to go home and spend the maximum time with my family, then go to the gym, training forward. I have not boxed in one year, not practical boxing exhibition.”

He certainly didn’t back off when asked if his ambition remained to be a world champion at heavyweight.

Not just world champion, undisputed world champion,” he said.

Chisora was convinced he was on the wrong end of a poor decision, although his corner had been telling him he was ahead throughout.

“Yeah, 100 percent,” Chisora replied when asked if he thought he had won the fight. “I was pushing the pace, I gave a couple of rounds away but I was pushing the pace. But the judges saw it a different way.

“Pressure, sometimes, and my body shots [were working]. He was complaining to the ref, but the ref didn’t do anything. I’m just disappointed. I’m gutted.

“I’m not surprised Eddie [Hearn] isn’t here, because he knows I am going to have a go at him, but it is what it is.”

He did not seem to think that Usyk could make it to the top of the heavyweight tree.

“In the heavyweight game you have got to fight not box,” he said. “I was setting the pace, I gave a couple of rounds away and he caught me with some good shots, but they were not painful shots.”

Ron Lewis is a senior writer for Boxing Scene. He was Boxing Correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001-2019 - covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights across the globe. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications worldwide since the 1980s.