When Joe Joyce and Dereck Chisora were first linked together, it seemed like a natural pairing and a sensible fight: first, because Joyce was on an upward trend and Chisora on a downward trend, and second, because both men had a penchant for absorbing punishment on their way to victory, guaranteeing entertainment for the fans.
Not only that, but when it was first mooted in 2018, there was a sense that the fight had to happen now, if only because this ability to entertain fans would inevitably lead to either a shocking defeat or a sudden decline, cruelly. The concerns in this regard were real for both Joyce and Chisora at the time, and perhaps that is why the idea of the two fighting in 2024, six years from now, is more than just sad. It is undoubtedly sad to see Joyce, who previously promised so much, struggling to come back at such a level, and it is sad for many to see Chisora, who turns 41 later this year, still boxing; that is, at a level where he can make decent money and take life-changing punishment.
For this reason, the announcement of Joyce vs. Chisora on July 27 was widely panned on Wednesday (May 22) and received none of the intrigue it would have received had it been announced a few years earlier. Some called it pointless; others preferred the risky one. But either way, it was hard to see how this fight, a fight that had once reached an attractive crossroads, could be profitable for either Joyce or Chisora. For Joyce, a win over Chisora at this point would not even put him in the top five wins of his career, but for Chisora, a man for whom even a loss is not a deterrent, there is the fear of a win that is never out of the question, which, at this stage, is somehow worse for him than suffering a loss.
After all, if Chisora refuses to stop due to the setback, there's a good chance he will. win Fighting would only prolong his professional career, something many say he shouldn't do at his age. But I would venture to say that a win over Joyce might be the only big win Chisora is chasing now, at 34-13 (23). If he achieves it, he might finally have some satisfaction, hang up the gloves and prepare for what we all know will be a much tougher fight for Chisora than his recent heavyweight bouts.
In fact, just as we know this, so does Derek Chisora. In fact, that's probably why he keeps going. That's because for any professional boxer, including Chisora, retiring unprepared is always a risk. It was a danger far greater than anything they had ever encountered in the ring. Generally, it is called the unknown, this danger. We usually wait for them in an empty hallway at the game venue or in the parking lot after all the other cars have disappeared. For a boxer in decline, it remains a permanent state of coughing. A weakened boxer prepares to ask the question he doesn't want to hear. “What's next?”
Joe Joyce and Dereck Chisora (Stephen Dunkley/Queensberry)
That Chisora has eluded that for so long is both admirable and concerning. He has done so by always providing entertainment, before and during the fight, win or lose. He has also reinvented himself at a crucial time, becoming “War” Chisora rather than just “Del Boy.” And that it happened was a key development in the Dereck Chisora story. In fact, we now know that the only purpose of rebranding him as “War” Chisora was to make people think that his increasing weakness was not a cause for concern, but that he was simply doing what he and his promoters and managers had promised. “It lives up to the nickname,” they would say. “He does what it says on the tin.”
In that sense, one could argue that Chisora has been exploited for some time by people who should have known better. But of course, many have. He is not the first, nor will he be the last, and the least we can say is that a Chisora coming along in this era would be more aware of his exploitation and the role he played in it than his predecessors. After all, it can be said that we are in an era where boxers are more powerful, more switched on, and more in control of their own destiny than they have ever been before.
So, infantilizing Dereck Chisora is probably unnecessary at this point. Rightly or wrongly, he knows exactly what he's doing better than anyone, and remember, he's a 40-year-old man and therefore can make his own decisions and live with whatever the consequences may be. It's his mind and his life, and he can do with both as he pleases.
Moreover, the people who are constantly telling him to quit are not going to be there to entertain Chisora when his empty days feel like they are much longer than they used to be. They won't be there when Chisora can't remember what happened after he retired. Better Only those who encouraged him to stop can remember those days properly, and by then the regrets are shared but never spoken about.
“Joe (Joyce) doesn't back down, I don't back down,” Chisora said Wednesday. “So I think by the end of the game, one of us will have lost brain cells.”
“Well, I hope not,” said Frank Warren, promoter of Joyce vs. Chisora.
“No, that's teeth “This incident is not true,” Chisora insisted. “I'm going to be honest.”
And he's also right. teeth Case. Like it or not, paying to be on stage or watch Derek Chisora's fight in 2024 means you are helping him financially while at the same time contributing to his inevitable death. means. This contradiction was made by the strange cult around him, and all kinds of chants, “Oh, Derek Chisola …”, praised his courage and functions as a sad departure music. .
“I advised him to retire a while ago,” Warren said. boxing news“But he doesn't want to retire. In this fight, they're close in age so I think it's evenly balanced. Whatever happens, the loser is going to have a really hard time doing anything in the future.”
This last comment can be interpreted in several ways, but Warren presumably meant it only in the context of each boxer's future professional career. Either way, the truth is this: for Dereck Chisora in 2024, winning and losing mean the same thing. Losing would lower his price, albeit reluctantly, making him more affordable for promoters. Winning, on the other hand, would perpetuate any delusions and lead to another fight, another payday, and another press conference where his words would be heard not as fight talk but as a cry for help.
