By Jack Tiernan: Dereck ‘War’ Chisora is refusing to retire following his decisive 12 round unanimous decision loss to Joseph Parker in their rematch on Saturday night at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.
Chisora will continue until the bitter end stubbornly, and at some point, his promoter Eddie Hearn will need to save him from himself by cutting him loose from his contract.
He’s taking WAY too much punishment in these fights at this point in his career, and it’s uncomfortable to watch.
Chisora took a lot of punishment
The judges’ scores for the fight were troubling, and they have given Chisora a false sense that the fight wasn’t one-sided. The scores were 114-112, 115-111, and 115-111. I have no idea how the judge came up with 114-112. There are no words to describe how that score is.
This writer had Parker winning 11 rounds to 1. I mean, you could give Chisora 2 rounds if you’re being generous, but that’s it. He was getting BATTED around the ring like a baseball by Parker, getting dropped left and right.
Chisora (32-12, 23 KOs) says he wants to fight in the summer. He’s not saying who he wants to face next, and his latest loss could limit his opportunities for more prominent names.
If Hearn wants to take it easy and prolong Chisora’s career artificially, he can start matching him in how he’s doing with Conor Benn. In other words, match Chisora gets old guys past their prime and virtually harmless.
Parker (30-2, 21 KOs) dropped Chisora three times in the fight and had him within an eyelash of being knocked out on four occasions in the contest.
Heck, the only reason Parker, 29, didn’t knock out Chisora is because he’s a lousy finisher.
Any of the young prospect heavyweights like Jared Anderson or Daniel Dubois would have put Chisora out of his misery if they’d been in there with him last Saturday night. 21-year-old Jared would have likely made easy work of Chisora if he’d fought him.
Chisora being stubborn, refuses to retire
“It was a brilliant heavyweight fight. Dereck Chisora, who quite frankly is NOT human, and a great performance by Joseph Parker, to be honest. Spiteful,” said Eddie Hearn to iFL TV in reacting to Parker’s win over ‘War’ Chisora.
“If he wasn’t as conditioned the way he was, and if he didn’t fight as well as he did, he would have got beat tonight. He would have got done down the stretch because Chisora wouldn’t stop coming.
Fuck retirement. I’ll be back in the summer bitch. pic.twitter.com/Cr40UOX8Vk
— Derek Chisora 🥊 (@DerekWarChisora) December 19, 2021
See what I mean? Chisora isn’t going to quit on his own and literally will need to be pulled out of the game.
“Super tough and probably too tough for his own good,” said Hearn about Chisora. “But a really good heavyweight fight, tremendous atmosphere, and a really great way to end 2021.
“Even in the 12th, he knows he needs a knockout, and he’s trying to win by knockout, knowing he could get sparked himself, but doesn’t care.
“I know fighters always say, ‘I’ll go out on my shield,’ but to do it when you’re hurt like that, that’s why people love him. At some point, people need to say to him [Chisora], ‘Mate, you’re in war after war.’
“He was in the ring with me, and he said, ‘Did you enjoy that?’ Frank saw him there, and he said, ‘I’m out in the spring.’ The problem is when you’re not regressing, and you’re fighting quite well. The other problem is, he’s fighting elite guys.
Hearn is not sure how Chisora went 12 rounds
Eddie says he’s not sure how Chisora went the total 12 round distance against Parker. The answer is easy. Parker lacks the killer instinct, fights SCARED, and is incapable of throwing many punches without needing a rest break.
We witnessed Parker needing to take breathers repeatedly after opening up with short bursts of punches against Chisora. If Parker could throw a flurry of punches, he would have knocked Chisora out.
“He could fight at British or European level and probably beat everyone,” said Hearn about Chisora. “But at the world level, that’s where his losses have come, but he loves to fight.
“He took some punishment tonight, but he kept on coming. He’s a tough man. How it went 12 rounds, I don’t know, and Parker was really good.
“He came out with the size and power to do damage. He punched a lot harder than he did in the first fight and with a lot more bad intentions. That was the difference tonight.
“How many times do you want to get hit by the uppercut as you come in? Forty probably in that fight, and Parker looked good. It’s not just winning. It’s winning well in exciting fights, and that’s what Joseph Parker did.
Parker is in a great position
If Hearn matches Parker up with Andy Ruiz, Filip Hrgovic, Deontay Wilder, or 42-year-old Luis Ortiz, he’ll likely lose to all of them.
In Parker’s two fights with Chisora, we saw that he’s not on the same level as any of those fighters, not even Ortiz.
“I think he’s in a great position,” said Hearn about Parker. “He can have a final eliminator against [Filip] Hrgovic, he could fight Ruiz, he could fight Wilder, or he could fight Ortiz. His name is in the mix for all those guys. Maybe a rematch with Dillian Whyte after he beats Tyson Fury.
“He’s in a great spot, Joseph Parker,” said Hearn. “He just won in a fight with a really good performance. It was a really good win for his career.”
Yes, Parker is in a good position for a good fight against one of the heavyweights mentioned above, but I don’t think it’s going to end well for him.
If Parker is smart, he’ll take the easiest fight he can get to keep him ranked high. He can beat weaker fighters, but not any of the quality contenders or your prospects like Jared Anderson or Dubois. Hrgovic would destroy Parker and mess up his plans to try and get another title shot.