By Jake Tiernan: Journeyman Derek Chisora says he wants Eddie Hearn to let him fight Anthony Joshua next on August 12th if AJ’s negotiations with Dillian Whyte don’t pan out for their summer rematch.
Hearn said last week they hadn’t agreed on the money for Whyte (29-3, 19 KOs) to face Joshua in August. With that rematch seemingly off the table, Chisora (33-13, 23 KOs) says he wants Hearn to “give” the Joshua fight to him.
It would be a dream come true for the 39-year-old Chisora to be given a nice golden parachute fight against Joshua to give him a soft landing in his retirement years.
With an estimated net worth of $15 million, according to the Mirror, Chisora is already a wealthy man, but getting a fight against Joshua would bump up Delboy’s fortune considerably, possibly close to the $20M mark.
To have that kind of net worth without ever having won a world title is incredible. If you’re a non-Brit boxer, you must think that moving to the UK is where you need to be if you want to make massive money.
Of course, the backlash Joshua & Hearn would receive from the boxing world would be severe if they were to pick Chisora for the August 12th tune-up, as he’s lost four out of his last five fights since 2020 and has been considered shot for way longer than that.
Still, if WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury had no qualms about fighting Chisora, why shouldn’t Joshua? Fury-Chisora filled the massive 62, 250-seat Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium in London last December, showing that British fans feel that Chisora is still a marketable fighter.
“You know, Dillian; Dillian’s in Portugal, man. He’s learning how to speak Portuguese. Us Brits, we stay here, man. We’re not going nowhere. If Dillian don’t take it [Anthony Joshua fight], Eddie, give it to me,” said Derek Chisora to Boxing King Media about his wanting promoter Eddie Hearn to let him fight Anthony Joshua in December in Saudi Arabia.
“I don’t know, man. Everybody keeps talking about Saudi, man. You know, I’m always in Saudi; I love Saudi. What can I say?
“He only wants to have one fight, Tyson. He wants to have the Usyk fight; that’s it, and that would be done soon.
“I’ll be out in August. In August 12th, I’ll be out,” said Chisora when asked when he’ll fight again.
You notice how Chisora has picked August 12th as the date for his next fight. That shows you that he’s hoping that Hearn will give him the Joshua fight on that date, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he did.
There’s no difference between Whyte & Chisora in terms of what they have left in the tank at this stage of their careers, and you can argue that Derek is the more popular of the two with casual boxing fans. Whyte is just as washed as Chisora, maybe even more so.
If Hearn is willing to match Joshua against Whyte, who has arguably lost his last two fights, he should be equally ready to put him in with Chisora if they can negotiate.
