Dereck Chisora believes ripping the European Heavyweight title from Agit Kabayel on Saturday night will catapult him back into the World title mix as they clash in Monte-Carlo, live on Sky Sports.
‘Del Boy’ can become a two-time Euro king by taking the strap from the unbeaten German in his first defence, and the Londoner feels that will land him the mega-fights he wants – starting with a rematch with capital rival Dillian Whyte following their epic battle in December.
“I need to get this fight done and look good,” said Chisora. I haven’t had a big fight since the Whyte fight and I’ve been pushing for that rematch but it’s not happened and not looking likely any time soon.
“This came up and I think that it was meant to be for Dillian but he was too scared to fight this boy, so I took it.”
Whyte defeated Robert Helenius in Cardiff last weekend in an eliminator for the WBC title held by brash American Deontay Wilder, who defends his crown against Bermane Stiverne in Brooklyn this Saturday.
Chisora is handily ranked in the top ten in the WBC ratings and could be looking at a second World title shot in 2018 and would welcome all-comers in the biggest fights he can land.
“Dillian won at the weekend, I’m going to win, so let’s do it, there’s nothing stopping us,” said Chisora. “But you never know what is going to get in the way, this is boxing.
“I want to fight for a World title too. We don’t know why Joseph Parker is holding a World title. How is Wilder still a World champion? Anthony Joshua is doing well, he fights twice a year and puts on a great show. The other two guys are just lucky. They were there at the right time.
“Parker boxed for a World title without TV – that’s embarrassing and they didn’t sell any tickets. That tells you everything.
“My plans with Eddie include fighting in America, keeping fit and training hard and making the fights that I want to happen. Wilder fights Stiverne, AJ and Dillian have just boxed, Jarrell Miller fights next weekend – the Heavyweight game is bubbling up right now, it’s buzzing.
“It’s been a great year for boxing in Britain, and I think 2018 can be even better.”
Chisora and Kabayel clash on a stacked bill in Monte-Carlo topped by a pair of World title battles with Russian destroyer Dmitry Bivol making the first defence of his WBA Light-Heavyweight strap against Australian Trent Broadhurst while Jamie McDonnell and Liborio Solis return to Monte-Carlo for a rematch for McDonnell’s WBA Bantamweight crown and Scott Quigg and Oleg Yefimovych clash in an eliminator for the WBA World Featherweight title.
Scott Quigg believes he can become a two-weight World champion in 2018 – but says he’s prepared for a hard night’s work on Saturday when he faces Oleg Yefimovych in a eliminator for the WBA World Bantamweight title in Monte-Carlo, live on Sky Sports.
Quigg held the WBA Bantamweight crown over six fights before losing out to Belfast rival Carl Frampton and the 29 year old has since moved to Los Angeles to team up with legendary trainer Freddie Roach, landing their first win together in April against Viorel Simion at Wembley Stadium.
Quigg is honing his skills in the Wild Card Gym with the hall of fame coach and they were ringside when WBA Super king Leo Santa Cruz and regular champion Abner Mares were in action in California two weeks ago, where both men won via stoppage.
Yefimovych is ranked at number four in the WBA so a win for Quigg puts him right in the mix for a World title clash in 2018 – and with the stakes high, Quigg knows it’s going to be a hard night’s work.
“I’m expecting a tough fight from Oleg,” said Quigg. “I know I’ve got a tough fight in front of me but it’s one I’m very confident in with the work I’m putting in and how I’m looking in the gym. Oleg’s highly ranked in the WBA so it’s going to shoot me right up there. I’ve never boxed in Monte Carlo so it’s another new experience and one I am looking forward to.
“The fights I want are Mares, Santa Cruz. I believe they’re going to be fighting early March or sometime in April, I’d love the winner of that. I want to be involved in big fights, like the big fight with Carl Frampton.”
A rematch with Frampton is a fight that Quigg would also love, and like Quigg, ‘The Jackal’ has recently made a training switch from Shane McGuigan to Jamie Moore.
“I made some big changes,” said Quigg. “I needed to make them big changes and I felt the benefits of it.
“It’s good to have something different, Freddie has unrivalled experience and teaming up with him was only ever going to improve me. I’ve been getting back to my boxing with Freddie, getting behind the jab and simplifying things. It’s all been about letting my skills flow and not smothering my work, and that will let my natural power work. I’ve been learning every day and most importantly, I’m happy.
“I have no doubt Carl will be the same. He’s been with the McGuigans for a long time and sometimes you just need a change.
“I do think the change will benefit him, it will do him good. The main thing is you’ve got to enjoy training. If you’re not enjoying it, you might as well walk away.
“He’s changed his trainer, he’s changed his team, and it might give him that spark back that he was lacking.
“I came up short but I believe I’ve made massive improvements already, learned from that. Those are the fights I want to be involved in. Anybody who’s got a World title at 126lbs, they are the fights I want to be involved in.
“I believe I can beat him, so I would love that fight, but there is Leo Santa Cruz, Abner Mares, Oscar Valdez, Lee Selby. I want to be involved in any of those big fights. On my day, I turn up 100 per cent, I believe I can beat every one of them.
“He’s the only person to beat me, so obviously I want a rematch. If it didn’t happen it would be through no fault of me not wanting it. I want to put the record straight.”
Quigg and Yefimovych clash on a stacked bill in Monte-Carlo topped by a pair of World title battles with Russian destroyer Dmitry Bivol making the first defence of his WBA Light-Heavyweight strap against Australian Trent Broadhurst while Jamie McDonnell and Liborio Solis return to Monte-Carlo for a rematch for McDonnell’s WBA Bantamweight crown and Agit Kabayel defends his European Heavyweight title against Londoner Dereck Chisora.
Jamie McDonnell and Liborio Solis return to Monte-Carlo to rematch for the WBA World Bantamweight title on Saturday night live on Sky Sports from the prestigious Salle Médecin of the Casino de Monte-Carlo, and McDonnell has vowed to leave no doubt in the victory this time, while Solis is gunning for revenge.
McDonnell defeated Solis in November by scores of 117-111, 116-112 and 115-113, cards that prompted Solis’ team to appeal the result and the WBA to order a rematch.
McDonnell was disappointed by some that thought the challenger had actually won the fight and the unbeaten Doncaster ace has been working hard over the last year to make sure that the rematch is a clear-cut win as he targets one last huge fight at Bantamweight before stepping up to Super-Bantamweight.
“I thought I boxed well against him,” said McDonnell. “I knew it would be a tough fight but not as hard as it ended up being, I had to dig in a bit more but I was in control.
“I heard a lot of comments about it being tight and I was disappointed in them, I felt I ran the fight, there were tough spells and he caught me with some right hands and had good work rate, but I dealt with him and never felt in danger and he didn’t hurt me. I thought I won be three or four rounds.
“I also know that I fought the wrong fight. I was sat on the ropes too much and I needed to be busier. I won’t be taking any chances. I want to go in there, look good and get the job done. A stoppage would be great.
“People can see it differently but I believe I cruised through it, then I came out and some people thought he nicked it. That gets you down but people are allowed their opinions – this time there will be no doubt about me being the winner.
“I’ve been absolutely flying in this training camp and I don’t think I’ve ever been on track with the weight as good as I have been.
“This will be the sixth defence and after I win I want to look for bigger things. Paul Butler is lined up for the winner and that could be a big fight, but Ryan Burnett is the WBA and IBF champion and that would be great and I could look to move up in weight.
“I’m big for Bantamweight and I’ve been saying for a while that I would move up, I’m staying here for one big fight before moving up and I do think that Super-Bantamweight would really suit me. I want to leave Bantamweight as the best but maybe I will need to look to make that step up if the fight I need doesn’t come. I’ve been at this weight for a long time and it’s hard.”
For the Venezuelan, Saturday night is the chance to gain revenge. Solis believes he did enough on the night to justify a victory in his favour and doesn’t think that ring rust will be an issue as both men find themselves in the same situation.
“It was annoying that the rematch didn’t happen quickly,” said Solis. “But as much as the year out may have affected me it will have affected him as well so there is no advantage there.
“He may have been trying to avoid the rematch because he knows it was a robbery. He himself was surprised when they read out the verdict. I don’t know why he’s been avoiding me because if it were me I would have been looking for a rematch quickly just for personal honour. But he doesn’t have anywhere to run to now.”
“The English fans and the press said that I won, I got messages from them and, he looked totally surprised as did his corner when they read out the verdict.
“I’m fired up to show that he didn’t beat me. I’m not assuming anything though, anyone can have a bad night and maybe that was his bad night. But now he has to show everyone that it was a bad night for him.”
McDonnell and Solis clash on a stacked bill in Monte-Carlo topped by a pair of World title battles with Russian destroyer Dmitry Bivol making the first defence of his WBA Light-Heavyweight strap against Australian Trent Broadhurst while Scott Quigg and Oleg Yefimovych meet in an eliminator for the WBA World Featherweight title and Dereck Chisora challenges Agit Kabayel for the German’s European Heavyweight title.
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