By Charles Brun: Dereck Chisora says Tyson Fury will be required to fulfill his contractual obligation to Deontay Wilder in 2021, which means his plans for a fight against Anthony Joshua will need to be delayed.
WBC heavyweight champion Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) has been trying to get out of his obligation for his trilogy match with Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) for months. Fury doesn’t want to risk the big money he can make fighting IBF/WBA/WBO champion Joshua.
Although Fury’s promoter Bob Arum has repeatedly told the media that the contract for the rematch with Wilder has run out, the mediator reviewing the contract could rule in Wilder’s favor.
It’s doubtful that Wilder will agree to step aside to let Joshua and Fury fight unless he’s given a lot of money.
For his part, AJ is also trying to get out of his own commitment for his overdue WBO mandatory against Oleksandr Usyk.
Chisora says Fury will be stuck facing Wilder
“The contract says he [Wilder] fights Tyson Fury three times,” Chisora said to IFL TV. “So why is everybody trying to come up with their own conclusion for?
“We’ve seen the first [Fury vs. Wilder] fight, we’ve seen the second fight, and now we’re going to see the third fight. So I’m hoping the third fight is going to happen. He’s going to fight Tyson Fury again next year.
“The fight WON’T happen next year because Deontay Wilder has got his rematch clause,” Chisora said about the Joshua vs. Fury match. “I will bet you any money [Joshua – Fury doesn’t happen in 2021].
“Tyson Fury was supposed to fight a couple of months ago [against Agit Kabayel], and then Deontay Wilder went to court in America, and then they pulled the fight out.
“There are problems, Deontay Wilder wants his rematch. That is it. If Deontay Wilder says ‘I’m going to step aside now so AJ and Tyson Fury can fight,’ yeah, but no, Deontay Wilder wants his rematch, Chisora said.
There will be many unhappy boxing fans if Fury is forced to fight Wilder next rather than Joshua, but there wouldn’t be a problem if the British heavyweight had just followed the contract instead of trying to back out.
Fury calls himself a fighting man, but it seems like he’s more of a businessman now.
The fight between Fury and Joshua is a business-fight, and it’s shocking to see how both heavyweights are trying to get out of their commitments to rush into this match.
What’s worrisome is what will happen if Fury and Joshua can get away with circumventing their commitments to Wilder and Usyk.
Will we see a continuation of this way of managing their respective careers in which they dodge mandatory challengers and contractual obligations?
Joshua’s victory over Pulev was impressive
“His win was great,” said Chisora about Anthony Joshua’s victory over Kubrat Pulev. “There was one point where he [Joshua] hit him so hard, that the guy wanted to run out of the ring [in the third round].
“I’ve never been hit so hard that I wanted to run out of the ring. I don’t know what he got hit with a sledgehammer or what, but her turned his back and started running away.
“It was a good win for him [Joshua]. The way he boxed was great on his feet, and by the time he wanted to take him out, he took him out. It was a great performance from AJ, unbelievable. Everybody wants to see the fight, the ‘Gypsy King’ and AJ,” said Chisora.
Joshua didn’t perform as great as Chisora makes out in his win over Kubrat Pulev. There was the same timid Joshua that we saw in his rematch with Andy Ruiz Jr in December 2019, and he let Pulev hang around way too long.
Boxing fans do want to see Joshua and Fury fight, but those are mostly the UK fans. Americans are indifferent about that fight.
You can argue that the average U.S fan would prefer to see Joshua or Fury fight Wilder or Andy Ruiz Jr than seeing a Joshua-Fury fight.
Usyk’s running annoyed Dereck
“First of all, the guy can’t punch,” Chisora said of Oleksandr Usyk. “All he did was running away from the fight. I was very disappointed in that. And I thought we were in the professional games, but I didn’t think we were in the amateur games, you know?
“I pushed the fight, I chased the fight, I did everything in the fight. All he did was run away. To be honest with you, he’s not scary in the heavyweight division. Physically, he’s not strong; his power punches [aren’t strong].
“I ate one of his best shots, and it didn’t even bother me. His output is good, but there’s no power in there. He complains too much, he’s a crybaby. He was on Russian TV already, Ukrainian TV complaining about me.
“You know, he’s a punk anyway. With his movement, he will beat Dillian [Whyte], and he will beat Joe Joyce. It’s his movement. If you’re not prepared for that movement, if you’re not prepared to go to the trenches, he’s going to walk over you.
“He don’t have much power, but if you don’t prepare for the movement, it’s going to be a long night for you. Who should I see him fight next? He’s the mandatory for the WBO.
“He should fight for it [against WBO heavyweight champion Joshua]. That’s the whole point of you becoming the mandatory. You fight for your belt you became mandatory for. You’re mandatory, you fight for it. That’s the whole point,” said Chisora.
Dereck knew going into the fight with Usyk that he would be dealing with a fighter with an amateur style that moved a lot. It makes no sense for Chisora to be complaining about Usyk’s fighting style now. Chisora isn’t naive.
He knew what he was signing up for when he took the fight with the 2012 Olympic gold medalist, which is why it seems odd that he’s grumbling now.
Dereck talks about Whyte’s loss to Povetkin
“He was winning the fight, but for a split second, he switched off,” Chisora said about Whyte in his fifth-round knockout loss to Alexander Povetkin last August.
“There was nothing wrong with his performance, he was winning. There was nothing wrong with what he did, it’s boxing.
“If you get caught with a good shot, you go. He’ll bounce back, he’s straining now. Alexander is not in training. Yeah, he [Whyte] should fight Luis Ortiz, it’s a good fight for him. It’s a good, good fight.
“I’m not going to pay for pay-per-view for that. Why? He’s coming off of a loss. He got clapped out,” said Chisora about Whyte having been knocked out by Povetkin last summer on August 22.
“You know what the Russians said in his [Povetkin] corner? The coach goes, ‘Alexander, what’s wrong?’ He said, ‘I don’t see the shot.’
“His coach goes, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘I’ve got something I want to try.’ ‘What do you want to try?’ ‘Let me just try something,’ and he checked that looping over the top, and he dipped and he came up [with a left uppercut] boy. But Dillian was winning the fight. It’s boxing, man, it’s hard,” said Chisora.
Whyte was knocked out by Alexander Povetkin from the opening bell, as he was tagged by hard shots from the Russian repeatedly.
What was surprising is that it took until the fifth round before he was finally knocked out by Povetkin.
Chisora says there was nothing wrong with Whyte’s performance, but he’s not one to make that comment. As a journeyman, Chisora was easily impressed by how Whyte fought, but a good heavyweight would see it differently.
Chisora willing to fight Joe Joyce
“That was a good fight,” Chisora said about the Daniel Dubois vs. Joe Joyce match. “The problem was, Daniel Dubois didn’t respect Joe Joyce. I think the whole team didn’t respect Joe Joyce.
“From his managers to his promoters, they didn’t respect Joe Joyce. They said, ‘He boxes very slow, his movement is not great.’ By the time Daniel went in there, he was without power and didn’t have no energy.
“He overtrained for that fight. Joe didn’t do anything amazing. He just kept his jab going, and kept moving. He kept his double jab and slow jab going. They were telling Daniel to move his head, but he could not move his head.
“It was like, ‘Hit me and I’ll hit you.’ It depends on how much BT is paying,” Chisora said when asked if a fight against Joyce would interest him. It’s about money.
“For me, it’s about money. If BT is paying money, yeah, I’ll take it. Yes,” Chisora said when asked if Dubois can bounce back. “I messaged him and told him, ‘That’s the best thing you could do for your career is take a knee.’
“Take the knee. Why are you going to be blind for? Everybody wants to call you a hero? Take the knee. I messaged him. ‘The best thing that you could do for yourself was taking that knee.
“Afterward, you would have won the fight, but you can’t fight anymore because your eye is bust-up.’ He’s running a marathon, he’s not running 100 meters. He’s got years in him.
“When he starts firing on both cylinders, they’ll start singing his song. That’s how human beings are. Tony [Bellew] is coming back. I’m telling you, Bellew is coming back. Don’t tell him that I told you, though,” said Chisora.
It’s unlikely that Chisora will agree to fight Joyce unless he’s offered some crazy money that he doesn’t deserve. In his last ten fights, Chisora’s record is 6-4, which suggests that he’s a journeyman level fighter.
Tony Bellew should have never retired after his loss to Usyk, as he fought well against him and showed that he’s one of the best fighters in the cruiserweight division.
Unfortunately, there’s no one for Bellew to fight at cruiserweight that will make him a lot of money. Bellew is too small for the heavyweight division, and it would be a waste of time for him to compete in the new Briderweight division.
Dereck to fight 4 times in 2021
“Me and David [Haye] are cooking something big right now, trying to do four fights next year, four,” said Chisora about 2021. “I’m back in the gym in February, at the end of February.”
Fighting four times in 2021 is an ambitious plan for Chisora, and it could go badly for Dereck if he fights guys that are a little too good for him.
If Chisora takes on top 10-level heavyweights, he could burn through what’s left of his career in a hurry. Given that Chisora is coming off a defeat against Usyk, he must get a sure thing win over a fringe-level fighter.
Although Chisora just turned 37 in Dember, he has a lot of mileage on him, and t would be a bad idea for him to face a young heavyweight.