By Tim Royner: Dereck Chisora’s manager David Haye says Oleksandr Usyk is still in the lead position for Dereck’s next fight rather than former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker. The former WBO heavyweight champion Parker is pushing hard to get the Chisora fight.
The decision on the Chisora fight will be made this week, according to Parker. He’s meeting with Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn this week to discuss his next bout.
Chisora (32-9, 23 KOs) was ready to fight Parker (26-2, 24 KOs) last month on October 26, but he pulled out of the fight complaining about a spider bite. As the saying goes, ‘once bitten twice shy.’ Chisora isn’t as excited about rescheduling the fight with Parker.
It’s not that he doesn’t trust the New Zealander, but it’s rather its an extra hoop that he would need to jump through to get a title shot against the Anthony Joshua vs. Andy Ruiz Jr. winner.
Chisora wants the WBO mandatory spot that Usyk has. So if he faces him instead of Parker, then he’ll get the title shot. Parker doesn’t see the logic in Chisora fighting Usyk next, because Delboy isn’t ranked in the top 15.
Parker blew his chance for Chisora fight
“It was all scheduled, four weeks prior to the fight, he gets bitten by a spider and the fight doesn’t happen,” Haye said to skysport.com. “That was Parker’s opportunity for the fight. It could still happen, but for me, Usyk is definitely the frontrunner, the fighter that I want, the fighter that Derek wants.”
If Chisora beats Parker, he still won’t be guaranteed a title shot. That’s the whole problem. Chisora would still need to take on Usyk or continue to beat top contenders until he’s a shot.
Usyk (17-0, 13 KOs) is already the WBO mandatory for the winner of next month’s fight between Andy Ruiz Jr. and Anthony Joshua, but he’s not get the winner of that match right away.
The IBF mandatory is due at the same time, and that one is expected to come first. This means Usyk, 32, will need to wait for his title shot. He wants to stay busy, and a fight with Chisora is something he’s interested in.
Chisora has excellent opportunity
A lot of boxing fans don’t understand why Parker pulled out of the fight with Chisora three weeks before. They think that Parker still had plenty of time to recover from the spider by and still make the fight with Chisora . Obviously, Parker assumed that he would be able to easily reschedule the fight with Delboy.
At the time that Parker pulled out of the contest, Chisora didn’t have the option of fighting Usyk. Parker was Chisora’s best bet to get a nice payday fight. But with a match against Usyk, Chisora will be getting a payday as well as a chance to become the WBO mandatory if he wins.
@DerekWarChisora we’ve been trying to make this fight for 2 years now. So let’s FIGHT. Simple. 👊🏼 But now you’re as silent as @DillianWhyte avoiding a rematch. What’s going on?? @D_Higgins_Duco @EddieHearn @Frank_1_Smith @mrdavidhaye @SkySportsBoxing
— Joseph Parker (@joeboxerparker) November 17, 2019
Unless Chisora won’t be able to take the WBO mandatory spot from Usyk by beating him, it’s a fight that makes sense. Parker would be a risky match for Chisora with very little to gain. Sure, Chisora would get a push up the rankings by the sanctioning bodies, but he wouldn’t be made mandatory.
It’s possible that Hearn could work his magic to lean on a sanctioning body to have Chisora-Parker a title eliminator. But apart from that, the fight doesn’t do Chisora any good.
“I know I can smash him, I know I can beat him,” said Parker about Chisora. “I told him before that I will retire him and I’ll be his last fight.”
With the way Parker is talking, that’s another reason why Chisora shouldn’t bother fighting him.