By Allan Fox: Eddie Hearn says former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker will be in a position to challenge for one of the fragmented titles in the division in 2022 if he beats Dereck Chisora on May 1st in their 12 round fight at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.
Parker (28-2, 21 KOs) has won his last four fights, including a big 12 round unanimous decision against Junior Fa last February to give him a #3 WBO, #6 IBF, #6 WBC in the heavyweight division.
Beating Chisora (32-10, 23 KOs) could put the 29-year-old New Zealander Parker in a position to fight for a crack at one of the four titles expected to be cast off by the winner of the second Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury fight.
The winner isn’t going to want to hold onto all four titles because of the hassle required to hold onto them.
They would be forced to make mandatory defenses against many non-marketable contenders, and it’s not worth it.
“If he beats Chisora when these belts become fragmented in probably 2022, this is a really important fight for him,” said Hearn to Sky Sports.”
“Actually, Joseph Parker is right up there since his win over Junior Fa. He’s top five, top six, with a couple of governing bodies now.
“Both guys teaming up with a new training team. Great, great men. Andy Lee, of course, in Joe Parker’s corner, and Buddy McGirt in Chisora’s corner. It’s going to be an interesting battle,” said Hearn.
We’re going to see how Parker’s new training team will impact his game and perhaps make him more aggressive. That’s been the missing ingredient in Parker’s game.
He’s too nice in the ring sometimes, particularly in his toughest fights against Dillian Whyte and Anthony Joshua. Parker needed to be aggressive, and he let them dominate. Lee has that mean Kronk Gym style that he’ll be trying to teach Parker.
It’s hard to imagine the type of fighter Parker will be if he can show the aggressiveness that we saw from him in the 12th round in his fight with Whyte in 2018.
This fight is more important for the 37-year-old Chisora because it might be his last chance to get another world title shot.
It’s been nine years since Chisora lost to former WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko by a 12 round unanimous decision in February 2012. Dereck was lucky to be given the title shot against Vitali, as he’d lost two out of his last three fights going into the contest.
At the time, it was believed that Chisora would quickly work his way into position for a second-world title try, but it hasn’t happened, unfortunately. Dereck lost crucial fights to these heavyweights that spoiled his chances for another title shot:
- David Haye
- Tyson Fury
- Agit Kabayel
- Kubrat Pulev
- Oleksandr Usyk
- Dillian Whyte x 2
Those losses have all come in the last nine years, but interestingly, Chisora appears to be still improving as a fighter since he hit his mid-30s.
In his last fight against the crafty, fleet of foot former undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, Chisora narrowly lost a 12 round split decision last October.
That’s a fight that Chisora would have won if he didn’t fade a little during the championship rounds. He came within a whisper of defeating Usyk, and that would have been a huge win. It would have made Dereck the WBO mandatory.
Chisora appears to be fighting at a higher level than Parker, who didn’t look good in his last fight against Junior Fa.
“For ‘Del Boy,’ of course, it’s the last roll of the dice, in a big, big heavyweight fight,” Hearn said.
Chisora will still be fighting on pay-per-view if he loses to Parker, but yeah, Dereck’s chances of a world title shot would be foiled for the short term.
Depending on how he’s moved, Chisora can work his way to a title shot even if he loses to Parker, but he would need to win some tough fights.