It is almost twenty years since Evander Holyfield lost by Unanimous Decision to Larry Donald at New York’s Madison Square Garden for the vacant NABA Heavyweight title. A result and performance which left the wilting 42-year-old former Heavyweight Champion as a peripheral figure in the title picture and, to use the cinematic boxing vernacular, ‘all washed up.’
The announcement of Derek Chisora’s proposed fight with Joe Joyce on July 27th, two heavyweights of advancing years with little prospect of recapturing youth or relevance looks like a fight too far for Chisora. It brought to mind the New York State Athletic Commission’s (NYSAC) attempt to discourage Evander Holyfield from boxing on following his loss to perennial contender Larry Donald.
Frank Warren, the promoter of July’s London card, naturally feels entirely different about the match up: “Two top London heavies fighting it out for a place back at the top table promises to deliver a cracking scrap. The winner is right back in business, with no real place to go for the loser.”
At this stage, with concerns for how much of Chisora remains, Joyce could prove to be the most dangerous opponent he could face.
Holyfield’s apparent decline had been evident to all, but the NYSAC’s intervention on the grounds of “Poor performance and diminished skills” remained a surprising development for such a high profile fighter. The three man commission, led by Ron Scott Stevens, who had been ringside to see the once irrepressible Holyfield land just 78 punches in 12 rounds, voted 3-0 to prevent Holyfield boxing in New York State again. This despite Holyfield having passed a series of tests that Stevens insisted on before permitting the veteran to fight against Donald.
“I’m not looking to end his career if it’s not warranted, but the health and safety of the boxer is the main concern of the state commission. To my practised mind, Holyfield shouldn’t be fighting any more. It’s the responsibility of the state athletic commission to save a boxer from himself.”
This week, and with statistical and evident echoes of the concerns voiced about Evander Holyfield two decades ago, the crumbling husk of Derek Chisora is booked to face Joe Joyce in a fight which promises little for the victor, the end of any lingering sense of relevance for the loser and unnecessary accumulation of damage for Chisora; a 40-year-old veteran with too many boxing miles travelled and enough millions stowed away to discourage all but the most wilful nihilist.
Chisora is not the first to shuffle down this path.
Back in 2004, Holyfield was at the end of a 9-fight sequence extending over 5 and half years in which the former Cruiserweight and Heavyweight champion had won just twice. The first, a soporific Split Decision win over John Ruiz in August 2000 and the second versus Hasim Rahman in March 2002, Rahman having developed an extraordinary hematoma on his forehead that brought a premature end to their fight. A meagre return for man in obsessive but deluded pursuit of regaining the heavyweight championship.
Losing fights is an imperfect metric by which to measure a fighter’s competence or their relative safety. There are thousands of fighters around the globe with losing records and many with several knockout defeats contained within them. Decline is equally difficult to quantify, such are the variables in play during a prizefight, and how much decline is too much? Nevertheless, the NYSAC’s attempt to protect Holyfield on the basis of the evidence of his decline from his best, as evidenced in his loss to Donald, was at the time a novel approach.
Of course, Holyfield was always a more accomplished fighter than Chisora. But the Chisora of today, and the Holyfield of 2004, aged 40 and 42 respectively, remain and remained superior to more than 90% of active fighters in their division despite a huge accumulation of damage, poor form and their advancing years.
But they’re not fighting the other 90%. Joyce may not be a top 10 fighter, but he was a year or so ago before his back to back defeats to Zhilei Zhang, and will still hold advantages of weight, height, reach and age. And it is in the matchmaking that danger exists. Chisora continues to be booked to box capable fighters and retains sufficient pride and punch resistance to stay in fights for long periods even in defeat. Knockout losses catch the eye but prolonged punishment is often a more damaging outcome.
In 2004, Holyfield was 38-8, had been a professional 20 years and boxed 372 rounds across two divisions as a professional. Derek Chisora is currently 34-13 in a 16-year career and has boxed a comparable 324 rounds, and is 3-4 in his last 7 over a five year period. Many of his 47 fights have been in punishing exchanges with heavyweight punchers of the calibre of Tyson Fury (x3), Kubrat Pulev (x2), Dillian Whyte (x2), Joseph Parker (x2), Oleksandr Usyk, Vitali Klitschko and David Haye. He went the distance with almost all.
Decline, coupled with a residual resistance to punches, is a dangerous cocktail in a heavyweight division filled with giants who are younger, fresher and bigger. One wonders whether Joyce will prove to be the brave old gladiator’s last stand. Joyce is big, but he succeeds with busyness and the cumulative affect of his punches rather than by a single knockout blow. It is easy to assume it will be a difficult watch for those who care about the veteran slugger.
Like Holyfield before him, there seems to be too few of those of a caring disposition helping Chisora to make decisions for the longer term.
Consequences await.
BOXINGWRITER.CO.UK 
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