Dereck Chisora is confident of victory in his 12-round heavyweight main event against “The Juggernaut” Joe Joyce at the O2 Arena in London next month.
Joyce isn't as well-worn as Chisora, but he has the size, power and jab to make a killing out of Derek. He beat Joseph Parker just two years ago, so he's considered the heavy favorite going into this fight.
Joyce hasn't lost a fight to a callous fighter like Chisora, and his two most recent knockout losses came against Chang Zhiliyet, which would have been bad news for Chisora at any stage of his career.
Chisora's decline and calls for retirement
If Chisora loses and is knocked out by Joyce (16-2, 15 KOs), the fight could be the final nail in the coffin of his career. Some fans are already calling for Chisora to retire and for his licence to be stripped by the British Boxing Association.
Of course, if that happens, Chisora could continue his career by fighting in Saudi Arabia if His Excellency has any favoritism towards the old guard.
Having Chisora fight on his own card in Riyadh would not do him any favours as there is a chance he could get injured, especially if he is facing someone in the top 15.
In this case, Chisora is not facing a top 15 fighter like Joyce, but he is still a step above him in terms of power and pedigree. Chisora was never as good as Joyce and would never have made the Olympic team.
The 40-year-old Chisora (34-13, 23 KOs) has looked worn down and gotten worse with each fight since losing to Oleksandr Usyk in 2020. He has lost four of his last six fights, with his only losses since then coming against the 41-year-old duo of Gerald Washington and Kubrat Pulev.
Chisora's decision
“This fight is not what I wanted. It's what they wanted. It's what he wanted. It's a good fight,” Dereck Chisora said in an interview with SPORT Boxing about his upcoming fight against Joe Joyce at the O2 Arena on July 27.
“A Chinese man [Zhilei Zhang] I beat him so badly I think he has PTSD now. I went to his fight with Kash Ali in Birmingham and he was in the same mood, bullying himself and trying to use his head in defence.
“It will be resolved. He's not going to change his style of boxing for the next four or five weeks,” Chisora said of Joyce.
