Dereck Chisora wants Joe Joyce fight next

By Boxing News - 12/15/2020 - Comments

By Scott Gilfoid: The highly ranked Joe Joyce is now on fringe heavyweight contender Dereck Chisora and his manager David Haye’s target list for 2021.

There’s not much for Joyce, 35, to gain in fighting Chisora (32-10, 23 KOs), given that he’s coming off a 12 round unanimous decision loss to Oleksandr Usyk on October 31st. If Chisora would stop losing all the time, he’d be a good option for Joyce.

Chisora falls apart every time he steps up against a halfway decent heavyweight, and you can’t count on him.

Additionally, Chisora is ranked low at #13 WBC, #15 WBA and #15 WBO in the heavyweight rankings. Joyce would be doing Chisora and Haye a favor by fighting him, and there wouldn’t be any upside in taking the match right now.

Two years ago, Joyce wanted to fight Chisora, but there was no interest on his part at the time. Now when the tables are turned and Joyce in the position to battle for the World Boxing Organization title, suddenly Chisora wants to fight him.

The fighter that Haye should be targeting for Chisora is 39-year-old Kubrat Pulev since he’s coming off of a ninth-round knockout loss to Anthony Joshua last Saturday night.

Pulev beat Chisora by a 12 round split decision in May 2016 in Germany, and there would be the revenge factor in a second fight between them.

Joyce in position to fight for WBO title

With IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua expected to take on WBC champion Tyson Fury in May, Joyce (12-0, 11 KOs) is in the enviable position to fight for WBO title against Oleksandr Usyk once it’s vacated or stripped from AJ.

Image: Dereck Chisora wants Joe Joyce fight next

“Possibly Joe Joyce,” Haye said an eager Sky Sports News about a fight he wants for his guy. “Joe Joyce looked great the other night against Daniel Dubois.

“I’m sure Joyce’s team would be salivating at that opportunity. That’s a great fight out there,” said Haye.

David Haye sounds like he’s dreaming with him talking about Joyce salivating over the prospects of fighting Chisora, a high-level journeyman at best. Heck, Joyce might as well take on Dave Allen or Tom Little because it would pretty much amount to the same thing.

No, Chisora is NOT a great fight for Joyce. It’s a step down for him from his recent knockout win over Dubois on November 28th, and there’s nothing for him to gain from that match.

As you can see, the guy that Joyce wants is Usyk, who is ranked ahead of him at #1 in the World Boxing Organization rankings. That’s a fight that could happen in the first quarter of 2021.

Anthony Joshua needs to decide

Joshua only has a short period of time to make up his mind about whether he wants to defend his WBO title against his mandatory Usyk or vacate. If Joshua wants to keep the WBO strap, he must face Usyk next rather than Fury.

The WBO has already said that Joshua must defend against Usyk next, and they’re not going to let him bypass the fight.

YouTube video

Although Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn says he’s going to ask the WBO to let him step around Usyk so that he can face WBC champion Tyson Fury, for the undisputed championship, they’re not going to go along with him.

Hearn wants the WBO not only to let Joshua skip past Usyk for the first part of 2021 but the entire year as well. If the WBO lets Joshua avoid his commitment to defending against Usyk in 2021, that will make three consecutive years that he’s been bypassed.

It’s easy to predict Hearn coming back to the WBO in 2022 to ask for yet another exception so that Joshua can duck Usyk again to fight someone else or perhaps face Fury a third time.

The problem is, Usyk has already been passed by twice, with Joshua taking on Andy Ruiz Jr in a rematch last December and then facing Kubrat Pulev last Saturday night.

Chisora will be turning 37 this month on December 29th, and he hasn’t won a fight against a quality heavyweight at any point in his 13-year professional career.

The last four years have been hard for Chisora with him losing to these heavyweights:

  • Oleksandr Usyk
  • Kubrat Pulev
  • Dillian Whyte x 2

Dereck needs to lower his sights

Chisora’s recent loss to Usyk (18-0, 13 KOs) on October 31st makes him unsuitable for an opponent for the big 6’6″ Joyce. Unless Joe wants to give charity for Chisora, it’s not a worthy fight for him to take right now.

YouTube video

Chisora would be a good option for Daniel Dubois one his injured eye recovers because he could use a good pick me up type of win.

“If Joshua doesn’t vacate, he has to fight Usyk,” said Joyce’s manager Sam Jones. “I hope Joshua does vacate and we’ll fight Usyk – Joe is very confident in that fight as well.”

Image: Dereck Chisora wants Joe Joyce fight next

Either way, Joyce is in a good spot to fight for a world title in 2021, be it against Joshua if he does the right thing or against Usyk for the vacant WBO belt after it’s stripped from him.

Gilfoid would like to think that Joshua will vacate the WBO strap if he decides to face Fury in May, but I can a scenario where AJ will fight with the ‘Gypsy King,’ hoping that the sanctioning body does nothing.

In other words, Joshua would be daring the WBO to strip him of his WBO title after he ignores them.

Haye says that Chisora could fight four times in 2021, potentially a good thing for him. If Haye matches Chisora against four good opponents next year, he’ll finish him off as a useful B-level fighter for the top guys.

Predictably, Chisora’s career will be finished if he fights four times in 2021 against quality contenders in the division. For that reason, Haye needs to be selective in the guys he picks for Chisora to fight next year.

Good options for Chisora in 2021:

  • Tom Schwarz
  • Martin Bakole
  • Sergey Kuzmin
  • Demsey McKean

I would add the light-hitting Agit Kabayel to the list, but Chisora was already soundly beaten by him in 2017. It would be pointless for them to fight against, and it’s unlikely that the German heavyweight Kabayel would want to waste his time.

Image: Dereck Chisora wants Joe Joyce fight next

If Haye wants to get the most out of Chisora’s remaining time in the game, he’ll match him softly in 2021 against the heavyweights on my list. Chisora isn’t in the position to fight anyone good, given that he’s coming off of a loss to Usyk, and he’s never beaten anyone good.