Chisora fighting Usyk = retirement fight – Parkers manager

By Boxing News - 11/14/2019 - Comments

By Charles Brun: Joseph Parker’s manager Daid Higgins believes Dereck Chisora is making a mistake by looking to face Oleksandr Usyk rather than re-starting negotiations for a fight against his guy. Chisora was supposed to fight former WBO heavyweight champion Parker (26-2, 20 KOs) on October 26, but he pulled out of the fight due to a suspected spider bite.

Higgins thinks Chisora will end up LOSING to Usyk, and then retiring after that fight. He could be wrong. Usyk looked weak, slow and very average in his heavyweight debut against Chaz Witherspoon last October.

Witherspoon was able to land shots despite being slow and rusty. He had Usyk looking marked up by the time he quit on his stool following the 7th. If that’s as good as it gets for Usyk at heavyweight, then Chisora has an excellent shot at beating him.

Usyk not impressive at heavyweight

The jump up in weight for former unified cruiserweight champion Usyk appears to be too much for him. Going from fighting at 200 lbs to facing guys in the 240s is too much. The fighters that have been able to make the leap from cruiserweight to heavyweight had punching power, and they made the move while they were still young. Usyk can’t punch, and he’s not young at 32.

Chisora (32-9, 23 KOs) stayed on the card and defeated replacement opponent David Price by a 4th round knockout. Chisora, 35, is now interested in taking a gamble in possibly facing WBO mandatory Usyk (17-0, 13 KOs), because a win over him would put him a title shot against the Anthony Joshua vs. Andy Ruiz Jr. winner.

“Stick to your word both of you and give the fans what they want,” said Parker’s manager Higgins in a message to Chisora’s manager David Haye via skysports.com. “Stop running away, trying to take another option because you think there might be a little bit more money.

“Chisora would probably lose to Usyk. He might make a little bit more money, but that’s like a retirement fight. When you take a fight you know you’re going to lose, for a bit more money, you’re basically saying ‘I’m retiring.’

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Chisora only needs to beat Usyk for title shot

At Chisora’s age. he needs to minimize his risks. Beating Usyk would guarantee Chisora a huge payday against the winner of the Joshua-Ruiz fight. There’s just one fight that Chisora would need to win to get him a big money match against one of those guys. But if Chisora faces Parker and beats him, he would still need to fight Usyk to guarantee himself the fight against the winner of Joshua vs. Ruiz. Why does need Parker when he’s a chance to fight Usyk straightaway?

It makes no sense for Chisora to take a risky fight against Parker when he can face Usyk. It wouldn’t be a big deal for Chisora to fight Parker if he was an easy mark. Chisora had no issues with fighting David Price recently, and you can understand why. Price had been knocked out six times in his career going into his fight with Chisora, and that meant he didn’t have to worry as much against him compared to someone like Parker.