Eddie Hearn wants Chisora vs. Dillian Whyte next after win over Pulev

By Boxing News - 07/09/2022 - Comments

By Jim Calfa: Eddie Hearn says he prefers Derek Chisora to fight Dillian Whyte next instead of Deontay Wilder following his 12-round split decision victory on Saturday night over Kubrat Pulev at the O2 Arena in London, England.

Chisora (33-12, 23 KOs) surprised fans after the fight by telling them that he wanted to face former WBC heavyweight champion Wilder in his next fight.

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Hearn came into the ring and immediately backed away from matching the 38-year-old Chisora against the powerful Deontay Wilder (42-2-1, 41 KOs) by saying that’s a “Dangerous” fight and that he much prefers to have Derek face recently knocked out 35-year-old Whyte.

Hearn’s other options for Chisora’s next fight:

  • Andy Ruiz Jr
  • Daniel Dubois
  • Luis Ortiz
  • Joe Joyce

If it’s only about money for Chisora, Dubois or Joyce would be the better option for Chisora than Ortiz or Ruiz.

The way that Chisora looked tonight, he would lose to all of those heavyweights by knockout. He wouldn’t go the distance with any of them because they’re not over-the-hill & weak like the Pulev we saw tonight.

Even though Luis Ortiz is 43, two years older than Pulev, he can still punch like no tomorrow, and he’d tear Chisora a new backside if he trapped him against the ropes as many times as Kubrat did tonight.

Chisora defeated Pulev by the scores 116-114, 116-112 for Derek, and 116-112 for Kubrat.

Many boxing fans on social media had Pulev winning the fight, as he did the better work from the outside and was the one that was on the attack in the championship rounds against a tired-looking Chisora.

“It was a grueling fight, high-maintenance fight, and sometimes scrap at times,” said Eddie Hearn to Secondsout when asked about his thoughts on Chisora’s win over Pulev on Saturday.

“You don’t have a war of attrition with Derek around. I felt he deserved the win. One or two rounds, it could have gone either way,” Hearn continued about Chisora’s victory over Pulev.

“116-112 was a bit weird both ways, but it depends on how you score it. I’m so pleased and so happy for Derek Chisora. He’s just beaten a top ten, top fifteen heavyweight in the world, so it’s hard to say, ‘Pack it in.’

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“It would also be a great time to walk away, but I don’t see him stopping fighting at the moment, especially off the back of a win. We’ve got to match him right and match him carefully.

“We talk about the Wilder fight. It’s a dangerous fight. Wilder is a very sharp puncher. I like the Dillian Whyte III fight just because those two will always have a great ding dong. The journey moves on tonight for Derek Chisora.

“I don’t know,” said Hearn when asked who he sees as potential options for Chisora’s next fight besides Whyte. “You’ve got Andy Ruiz, you’ve got [Luis] Ortiz. You’ve got Joe Joyce, you’ve got Daniel Dubois, you’ve got Dillian Whyte, and loads and loads of options.

“I’d like to match him right. I’ve always felt after the Parker fight; he should actually try and get a win tonight and an easy win. Not by a 50-50 again, but he’s won a 50-50, so obviously, he’ll be buzzing.

“Knowing Pulev, I’m sure he’ll carry on,” said Hearn when asked what Pulev should do next. “He had a very close fight with Chisora. He got cut to pieces in there tonight but never stopped trying. But it was scrappy.

“It was tough for them both to do what they wanted to do, so they had to do things that were a little bit unorthodox at times. It was very grueling, very high maintenance,” said Hearn.

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