By Marcus Richardson: Former heavyweight title challenger Dereck Chisora (27-8, 19 KOs) is said to be close to a deal with Carlos Takam (35-4-1, 27 KOs) for the undercard of the Tony Bellew vs. David Haye 2 rematch on May 5th on Sky Sports Box Office at the O2 Arena in London, UK.
Chisora, 34, is looking for a big fight and a fight against the recently beaten former heavyweight world title challenger Takam could be just what he’s looking for. Takam, 37, lost his last fight to IBF/WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs) on October 28th last year at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. Takam didn’t look that bad in lasting until the 11th round at which time referee Phil Edwards suddenly stopped the fight after Joshua had thrown a small flurry of punches. Takam didn’t look hurt at all. The referee Edwards seemed to have acted hastily in stopping the fight. Takam wasn’t too pleased about the stoppage, but there was nothing he could do about it. He found himself in the same situation as several other fighters have in having their fights stopped quickly against Joshua.
Chisora recently was offered a fight against unbeaten heavyweight prospect Joe Joyce (1-0, 1 KOs) for the undercard of Bellew-Haye 2 rematch on May 5th, but he rejected the offer. Haye is still interested in having Chisora take the fight with Joyce, but it’s going to take a bigger offer if he’s to take the fight. It’s unclear how much money Chisora is looking to get to face the 32-year-old Joyce.
Chisora needs a win in the worst way to get his career back on track. Chisora has lost 3 out of his last 5 fights since 2016, and he was recently beaten by little known contender Agit Kabayel last November. Chisora was out-boxed by the younger 25-year-old Kabayel, who made him look like kind of old and slow. Chisora has other defeats in the past 2 years to Whyte and Kubrat Pulev.
Takam is interested in facing Dillin Whyte (22-1, 16 KOs) if he gets past Lucas ‘Big Daddy’ Browne (25-0, 22 KOs) in their fight on March 24 at the O2 Arena in London, England.
“After the fight, maybe I want to come to Britain to fight,” Takam said to skysports.com. “After my fight, I’m going to see what I’m going to do. Maybe I’m going to make one big fight after my fight in April. I would like to fight Dillian Whyte, yes.”
Whyte’s promoter Eddie Hearn might not want to put him in a risky fight against Takam, because he wants him out of harm’s way until he sets up an eventual rematch against Joshua. While Hearn was recently interested in matching Whyte against WBC heavyweight champion Deontay ‘Bronze Bomber’ Wilder in a fight that he was hoping would take place in March, it’s a different thing in putting him in with a contender like Takam. There’s not as much upside for Whyte in a fight with Takam, because the payday wouldn’t be big and the chances of him losing would be high. Whyte almost lost to Chisora in their fight in December 2016. The judges gave Whyte a narrow win, but he appeared to lose the fight.