Source: Wikimedia, photo by Darren Meacher
The action inside the ring may not always be thrilling but that can never be said about the build-up and aftermath of a Dereck Chisora fight. On December 10, he challenges Dillian Whyte for the British Heavyweight title and already the pair are having a battle of words.
Chisora has held the British and European Heavyweight titles in the past and took Vitali Klitschko the distance in a challenge for the World title. But it’s what he gets up to before and after his fights that often makes the headlines. This latest title challenge is already proving controversial and it’s not just Chisora who is being outspoken.
Whyte recently won the British title and knows that the last two holders of the Lonsdale belt, Fury and Joshua, have gone on to win a World Heavyweight title. It was almost a year ago that the British champion lost his unbeaten record to Joshua (as you can see in the video below) and now he’s on the supporting bill to Joshua’s World title defence against Eric Molina, At the time of writing, he’s 11/25 at 32red.com to retain his title and push for a World title shot.
Chisora has been involved in some unsavoury scenes before fights. Only he could spit water in the face of Wladimir Klitschko just minutes before taking on his brother for the World title. Now the British Boxing Board of Control are suggesting that Whyte and Chisora be kept apart from each other in the build-up to this title bout, which is also a WBC eliminator and could lead to a title clash with Deontay Wilder.
“Deontay Wilder” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by laytondudley
Why the concern? Well, the pair traded insults galore when appearing on Sky Sports’ The Gloves Are Off. Security guards had to be called in to separate the two boxers after a series of increasingly insulting comments were traded between the two. All good hype for Sky but not good news for boxing and this kind of behaviour really shouldn’t be tolerated from serial offenders.
Promoter Eddie Hearn still wants another showdown between the two before they meet in the ring and is sorting security out, but should it come to this? Perhaps we’ll see a return of the steel fence that was used to keep Chisora and possible future opponent David Haye apart when they met in 2012.
This could well be last-chance saloon for Dereck Chisora who already has six losses on his record including a European title loss this year. He is 9/5 with 32Red to regain his British title and pump life into a fading career. If Chisora wants to do that though he has to be a lot more positive than when he lost that European title challenge to Kubrat Pulev earlier this summer. It was the same story when he was defeated by Tyson Fury, with fans leaving the arena long before the end of the turgid bout. This could well be another of those fights that promise a lot and fail to deliver on the night.
The champion is promising to “put a stop” to his opponent’s career of after beating him in December. He wants an inside-the-distance win and told reporters that Chisora has been “nicking a living out of boxing and I think a lot of people want to see an end to him now. I’m looking forward to seeing him down on Thursday, collecting the bins in my neighbourhood after I put the beat down on him.”
Of course, Chisora isn’t having any of that or any of Whyte’s claims that he had the upper hand when sparring with him in the past. Always prepared to come out with a headline-catching statement, the former champion has been typically unpleasant in the build-up to this bout. This might just be his last chance to get back into title contention and perhaps get a shot against WBC Champion Deontay Wilder in the new year. Chisora seems convinced he can knock Whyte out and doesn’t feel his opponent has a “power punch”.
Other bookmakers also have Chisora as the underdog in this bout with Betway offering 7/4 and 888sport giving you 9/5 on the former champion causing a big upset. Chisora often disappoints when push comes to shove (excluding pre-match rows) and this card looks like seeing the careers of Joshua and Whyte continuing to blossom while Chisora fades out of title contention.
