Dereck “War” Chisora is the latest big-name heavyweight to have felt the need to add a new trainer to his team ahead of a big and important fight; indeed, a must-win fight. Sky Sports has reported how Chisora has employed the services of James “Buddy” McGirt, this just over a month before his May 1st battle with former WBO heavyweight champ Joseph Parker.
“Building on the team, preparing for war!” Chisora wrote on social media, with a photo of himself and McGirt attached to the message.
There seems to be something in the air as far as heavyweights bringing in a new trainer; what with Dillian Whyte having added Harold “The Shadow” Knight to his team ahead of his revenge win over Alexander Povetkin, and with Parker adding the services of Andy Lee to his team ahead of the Chisora battle.
The new set of eyes, along with the considerable knowledge Knight (long-time co-trainer of the great Lennox Lewis, of course) brought to Team-Whyte, certainly proved successful.
Now, what wrinkles, if any, can McGirt add to 36-year-old Chisora’s game in the approximately five weeks of time he will get to spend with him before the Parker rumble?
Can Chisora, so long in the tooth, so experienced, learn anything new at this advanced stage of his career? His bringing in McGirt sure won’t hurt any, one would think anyway.
McGirt’s credentials are first-rate. A superb fighter and world champion in his own right, Buddy has worked with the likes of Byron Mitchell, Antonio Tarver, Sergey Kovalev, and others since hanging up his own gloves.
It was during his spell with the legendary Arturo Gatti that McGirt did his best work as a trainer, however. Without McGirt’s assistance, input and passion, Gatti might not have won two of the three epic fights he had with Micky Ward.
McGirt was brilliant in the corner, in the first fight especially. McGirt helped Gatti turn his career around. Now Chisora is the man coming off a loss and needing a big win to get his own career back to winning ways at the top level.
McGirt managed to bring out the best in Gatti; maybe he can do something similar with Chisora. It will also be interesting to see how Chisora’s foe, Parker, gets on with his new trainer, Lee.
Both men, either at the veteran stage of their respective careers or already there in Chisora’s case, are in the same must-win position Whyte was in this past Saturday night.
Again, new assistant coach Knight proved to be a most welcome addition to Whyte’s armory. Will McGirt do the business with Chisora, and will Lee do the business with Parker?
The addition of a new trainer on either side does add extra intrigue to the May 1st fight. Knight will stay with Whyte for the foreseeable future, but will McGirt and Lee stick around with Chisora and Parker? Who wins on May 1st? Which fighter will have the superior game-plan and which heavyweight will have had the greater training camp come fight night?
