Former world title challenger Dereck Chisora (23-5, 15 KOs) will be making a quick turnaround by fighting on this Saturday’s Sky Box Office card against TBA at the O2 Arena in London, UK. Chisora, 31, just fought last Saturday night in defeating Peter Erdos in five rounds in Hamburg, Germany. Chisora didn’t sustain any damage in that one-sided fight, so he was able to be put on this Saturday’s Anthony Joshua vs. Dillian Whyte card at the O2. Chisora will be replacing featherweight Josh Warrington.
Eddie Hearn, the promoter for the card, says that Chisora could be a potential opponent for Joshua in the spring of 2016 for a title defense of Joshua’s British belt, if he can defeat Whyte on Saturday to win the title.
Hearn is very confident that Joshua will beat Whyte and then defend the British title for a short period of time. What Hearn would like to see is Chisora fight David Price, and then the winner of that fight would take on Joshua for the British title.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-43xxHqeH4
“Maybe [Chisora fighting Joshua soon]. If we go down the route of a British title defense there’s probably not many more credible than Chisora,” Hearn said to IFL TV. “Chisora is a potential opponent for next Spring. Chisora being with Sauerland, it’s an easy fight to make. If that fight [David Price vs. Chisora] gets made, then the winner of that fight could be in line for Joshua,” Hearn said.
Having Joshua fight Chisora is a move for domestic consumption only. It’s not a fight that would do much for Joshua’s career because Chisora has already been beaten by David Haye and twice by Tyson Fury. Chisora has been trying to rebuild his career lately and he still has a long way to go before he accomplishes that.
Hearn can probably find much better opposition for Joshua to fight than to put him in with Chisora, who is not ranked in the top 15 by any of sanctioning bodies at this time. The British boxing public would probably like to see Joshua fight Chisora though, as it would validate him as a fighter.
It’s become a rite of passage for some of the top British heavyweights to fight Chisora and knock him out in order to get o the next level. In that respect, Chisora can be seen as a gate keeper type of guy that would be useful for Joshua and Hearn. But aside from that, Joshua really needs to be fighting better opposition than Chisora by next year. He can’t afford to get bogged down in facing names from the past if he wants to accomplish something with his career.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AS8_d7kLow
Hearn has a way of matching his fighters softly even after they win world titles. If you look at IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook, you can see that Hearn is matching him pretty much the same way now as he was before he became a world champion. Brook has recently fought Frankie Gavin and Jo Jo Dan. In his next fight, he’s expected to face Kevin Bizier. Those are all very weak welterweights, and Hearn seems to be stuck matching Brook like he’s a contender rather than a champion. If Hearn does the same thing with Joshua, then the fans could see him facing guys like Chisora his entire career rather than stepping it up and facing the best every time out.
