By Charles Brun: David Haye says Dereck Chisora is training to jump in as the replacement opponent for Anthony Joshua on August 12th at the O2 Arena in London.
Haye says Chisora (33-13, 23 KOs) told him a week ago that he knew that Joshua’s previously scheduled opponent Dillian Whyte would have drug issues, and he’s ready to step in.
Will the Brits be willing to pay their hard-earned money to watch Joshua demolish the journeyman Chisora on DAZN pay-per-view on August 12th?
A replacement that isn’t too dangerous for Joshua has got to be found soon because there are only six days left before August 12th, and you can’t sell a fight on PPV if fans don’t know who AJ is fighting until the last minute.
There have been rumors that Joshua could fight Filip Hrgovic or Demsey Mckean on that date, but it’s unrealistic that he would face either of those guys. McKean is a southpaw, and Joshua would need more than a week to prepare for that type of fighter.
As for Hrgovic, he punches too hard, and he could knock Joshua out, wrecking his gigantic payday fight against Deontay Wilder in Saudi Arabia.
Dereck Chisora on PPV?
We know that Tyson Fury had the nerve to use Chisora as an opponent for a PPV fight last year and even filled a stadium in the UK. The contest was virtually unwatchable, and Fury’s popularity plummeted in the aftermath.
Matchoom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn needs to find a suitable opponent for Joshua to fight in the main event on the August 12th PPV card on DAZN, but he can’t afford to put AJ in with anyone dangerous that could potentially beat him. That’s where the 39-year-old Chisora comes in. He’s perfect.
“It’s funny, I got a call from Derek Chisora about a week ago telling me this exact thing would happen. I didn’t pay much mind to it, but he was telling me he’s fighting AJ a week ago. Derek’s been training for that fight,” said David Haye to SecondsOutLive.
Hearn is desperate to the extreme, needing to find an opponent pronto to stick in there with Joshua on August 12th that UK boxing fans won’t mind digging in their pockets. Still, it would take a lot of gall for Hearn to use the journeyman Chisora as the replacement for Joshua to fight.
“He said to keep it to myself, but I think this news is out there now that Dillian’s not the man going to be in the ring with AJ on the 12th [of August], and Derek’s been training for that fight.
Chisora already training
“He’s bought the same camp. He’s brought the same team that he had for the Usyk fight. He hasn’t done that since the Usyk fight. He knows he’s going to need another Usyk performance where he pushed Usyk harder than AJ pushed him in those 24 rounds that AJ shared with him in Saudi,” said Haye.
Chisora’s fight with Oleksandr Usyk took place three years ago in 2020, and Dereck has deteriorated badly since then, slowing down with hand speed and looking like a big lump inside the ring.
Whatever Chisora did in the Usyk fight is ancient history because he’s not the same fighter he was then, and it wasn’t as competitive as Haye portrays.
“So very, very interesting. I think there should be an announcement at some stage, but you know, I think I think it’s a great fight. Dereck always gives value for money. He’s a Londoner, and it’s at the O2 Arena,” said Haye.
You can’t put it past Hearn to use Chisora as the replacement for Joshua (25-3, 22 KOs) for these reasons:
- Desperation
- Recognizable name needed
- Not much difference between Chisora & Whyte. Both worn-out journeymen
- British fans won’t care. U.S fans will ignore the fight anyway, just as they would if Whyte was used as the confidence booster
- Chisor ano threat to beating Joshua
“If you look at Dillian and Dereck, if you look at their last fight, Dereck was winning the fight up until he had that point deducted and unfortunately got chinned in that in the 11th round, but it was a very close fight,” said Haye about the Chisora vs. Whyte rematch in 2018.
“If you look at both of their last performances against the WBC champion Tyson Fury, Dillian got knocked out quite conclusively, and Dereck went to points he lasted the twelve rounds decision,” said Haye.
Chisora didn’t go the distance with Fury last year. He took and beating and was stopped in the tenth round.
