WBC heavyweight king Vitali Klitschko has stated that Dereck ''Del Boy'' Chisora, his challenger in Germany on Saturday is a better all round fighter than former WBA champion and proposed summer opponent David Haye. With the fight less than two days away, Klitschko has gone on record saying that Chisora has the same level of skill as Haye, but is a real heavyweight, a bigger puncher and more aggressive than the ''Bermondsey Bomber.''

40 year old Klitschko (43-2, 40 KOs) is a massive 1/16 betting favorite (bet365) with Chisora the heavy underdog at 9/1, but the 6'8'' Ukrainian has shown immense respect for his challenger in the build up to the fight, and believes he is a better all round fighter than his more illustrious countryman.

"Chisora has exactly the same skills of David Haye, but David Haye was coming from cruiserweight." said Klitschko. "Dereck Chisora is a real heavyweight fighter and that's why he has a much stronger punch and after the fight, I can give you a more exact answer. Right now, in my personal opinion; they both probably have the same skills.''

Klitschko will make the eighth defense of his second reign as WBC heavyweight champion and ninth in total against 28 year old Chisora (15-2, 9 KOs) at the Olympiahalle in Munich, Germany on Saturday night. The last time Vitali faced an Englishman, it was in the only defense of his first reign as WBC champ, when he KO'd a game but outgunned Danny Williams – fresh off a KO of Mike Tyson – in eight rounds back in 2004. Ironically, Klitschko has stated that he believes he will also defeat Chisora in the eighth.  

Despite a brave effort, Williams went out on his shield, and Klitschko believes that Chisora will also come to fight, unlike Haye in his challenge for Vitali's younger brother Wladimir's IBF and WBO titles last summer. 

"David Haye didn't want to fight my brother. He just kept running away from my brother. He didn't come in to fight. I expect a better fight from Dereck Chisora. He's actually a fighter. He wants to go in and fight and to go the distance. He tries to challenge his opponent and I didn't see that in the last fight between David Haye and Wladimir.''

"That's why they both have totally different styles. Dereck Chisora is more aggressive than David Haye." stressed Vitali. 

Klitschko's first reign as heavyweight champion was cut short when chronic knee and back injuries forced him to retire. After several operations, he returned to the ring in 2008 and in his first fight challenged then WBC champ Samuel Peter. Although most experts at the time believed he stood no chance against the big punching Nigerian after four years out of the ring, Klitschko confounded the critics by hammering Peter to defeat in eight rounds.

Since then, Klitschko has seemed hell bent on making up for lost time. He has been the most active of all top heavyweights, and in less than three years has defeated Juan Carlos Gomez (TKO 9), Chris Arreola (RTD 10), Kevin Johnson (W 12), Albert Sosnowski

(KO 10), Shannon Briggs (W 12), Odalnier Solis (KO 1) and Tomasz Adamek (TKO 10). Arreola, Solis and Adamek were all WBC mandatory no.1 ranked challengers. Saturday's fight will be his ninth since October 2008, while Wladimir and Haye have each fought just five times. 

In the build up to this fight, Klitschko has stressed that despite being in phenomenal shape, he has no desire to surpass George Foreman's record as the oldest heavyweight champion in history. An educated man with a doctorate in sports science, Klitschko has often spoken of his desire to enter politics in his native Ukraine when he retires.  

But before he quits the ring, Vitali would love to face David Haye. The elder Klitschko has never really forgiven the former WBA title holder for the verbal abuse he gave his brother during the buildup to last years unification bout, nor for the notorious T-shirt that Haye wore in 2009 that depicted himself holding the severed heads of the two brothers. 

Although there have been a steady stream of rumors of a bout between the two ever since Haye announced his retirement on his 31st birthday last October, Klitschko admits that the reality is they are ''miles apart'' from a deal.

"David Haye is so unpredictable," said Klitschko. "We tried to make a deal and I hope the fight comes through, but right now we are miles apart from making the contract.''

In the meantime, Vitali is 100% focused on the job at hand – defeating Dereck Chisora on Saturday night:

"Right now, I don't want to talk about it. I am focused totally on the Chisora fight and I hope that after Dereck Chisora, David Haye changes his mind and I can give a chance to David Haye to fight for the world title."

Big Fight Odds: Vitali Klitschko 1/16, Dereck Chisora 9/1 bet365