Chisora. Doomed to a banquet of consequences

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.

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May 28, 2024 0

Chisora, British Boxing’s favourite anti-hero, to dance once more

“A circus is like a mother in whom one can confide and who rewards and punishes.” 
Burt Lancaster, Actor, 1913-1994

One of the staple attractions of British boxing’s wandering circus will dance for the public again this weekend. His name is Derek Chisora and though gallant, he is now a depleted fighter. Weary from a decade of tugging at the tether boxing, with her beguiling promise of riches and adulation, ties to its most daring sons. The incessant blows, the sparring, the wins, the losses, the wear and tear of life as a professional athlete has worn away Chisora’s vibrancy, as those punishments always do. Eventually, there will be a reckoning. Repayment on the debt will be necessary. Passage to retirement never tempts ageing fighters as much as the whisper to carry on. There is always another pay day, another town, another spotlight. A fighter’s diminishing returns, the missed cues, the forgotten lines, are inconvenient truths all vested parties routinely ignore.

Although the soon to be 39-year-old boxing out of choice not economic necessity is a reassurance, his continuance remains troubling and poses a elevated risk for him and the sport he has excelled in. He gambles the quantity and quality of his tomorrows for the bounty of today, the roar of the crowd and the glory of a title that has been beyond his reach when younger and fresher.

Nevertheless, a man handsomely rewarded for years of durability should not still be chasing giants at his advanced age and with twelve painful defeats to his name. And in a more organised meritocracy, champions as capable as Tyson Fury should not be sending him contracts. Particularly in an era in which two fights a year is a busy calendar. But boxing isn’t that utopia.

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December 1, 2022 0

Fury v Chisora and the old routine

Heavyweight champions don’t always fight the opponents they should and don’t always fight the opponents they could. From the black fighters overlooked a century ago, to the missed opportunities of the 1990s and the voluntary defences even the Greatest of them all indulged in 50 years ago, a host of undeserving contenders have been blessed with title shots better men ought to have had.This weekend, the current heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, meets perennial contender Derek Chisora for the third time. It is a bout without the competitive credibility title fights should possess and is one only Derek requested.

And yet, for all the caveats and criticism, the veteran slugger has the chance to become the champion of the world, and with that people have the opportunity to place wagers with betting sites.

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November 30, 2022 0

Chisora lands stupefying, unnecessary trilogy fight with Fury

Why drag this out much longer?
I'd be ahead if I could quit when I was behind
Bobby Womack*, 1976

At the time of writing British heavyweight chugger Derek Chisora is 8-weeks short of his 39th birthday. By the time he walks toward the empty ring on December 3rd to fight the Heavyweight Champion, Tyson Fury, he will be closer still. Among the dissent the match up has drawn, for the things it isn’t; competitive, necessary or requested, boxing fans, writers and observers are only paying peripheral attention to yet another example of a middle age man punching for pay. Aesthetics can deceive. Routinely do.

Beyond the superficial of weigh-ins, face offs and PR soundbytes, in the haste to point to those who Fury should be fighting and just how unworthy Chisora is, the challenger’s age is but a sideline.

Lest we forget. Old is still old.

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October 21, 2022 0

Maloney: “As far as we know, Tyson Fury is OK for the fight”

Throughout Tyson Fury’s embryonic boxing career he has embraced and wrestled with more media attention than his exploits in the ring have thus far merited. In part due to his eye-catching name, part due his back-story as a 6 foot 7 inch giant from travelling stock and in no small part to the potential he showed. On the surface, Fury has revelled in the attention and seemed naturally quotable whenever a camera was pushed in his face. Youthful charisma or an arrogance waiting to bite him on his not inconsiderable posterior? Depends how you like your fighters, respectful and humble or brash and loquacious? In the run up to his much required rematch with John McDermott the normally omnipresent Fury has been uncharacteristically quiet. A cause of some concern to Frank Maloney, who has to sell tickets for the clash and for fans, who want to buy them. Continue reading “Maloney: “As far as we know, Tyson Fury is OK for the fight”” →