By James Slater: Both Dereck Chisora and Tyson Fury, two of British boxing’s most promising big men, suffered disappointment recently. Reigning British champion Chisora saw his dream opportunity of a fight with world ruler Wladimir Klitschko fall apart for a second time, while Fury saw his intriguing clash with former world champion Hasim Rahman go out the window.
Today, though, the two unbeaten hopes have something to look forward to: a potentially exciting fight against each other. Promoter of Fury, Mick Hennessey, won the purse bid to promote the show, outbidding Chisora’s man, Frank Warren. No date has been set yet, but the fight, as ordered by the BBB of C, must happen. According to Hennessey, the details of the 50-50-looking affair will be announced soon.
“I’m delighted to announce that Hennessey Sports have won the rights to stage this well-talked about mega-fight and as per-BBB of C rules, we will be announcing the date and the venue for this contest within the next 14 days,” the promoter said.
While Hennessey is certainly guilty of going overboard by referring to Chisora Vs. Fury as a “mega-fight,” it’s true the showdown has attracted the attention of many British fight fans. A very tough fight to predict, a good case can be made for either guy emerging with his hand raised.
Fury, arguably less experienced than “Del Boy,” even though the two have had the same amount of pro fights, has advantages in height and reach – while some would add punching power to the list. However, Chisora’s trainer, Don Charles, says his charge does very well against taller opponents. Can Chisora deal with Fury’s long jab? Can Fury, the younger man by five years at age 22, deal with Chisora’s workrate and infighting qualities?
Fury, 14-0(10), who has had plenty to say about his future rival over the past few months or so, is chomping at the bit over this fight.
“Del Boy has got no excuses now, my promoter has just handed him by far the biggest payday of his career and if he pulls out now, in my opinion he will prove himself to be a right plonker,” the Emanuel Steward-trained Fury said.
While I can’t see why Fury would entertain the idea that Chisora, 14-0(9) would look to avoid him, it is easy to understand why the 6’9” contender is feeling frustrated at present. The traveller has seen a number of big fights fall through, and he has reportedly had trouble getting fighters to even spar with him. The same things can be said of Chisora, though, and he may well be looking to take out his own frustrations on Fury!
This fight could become a special addition to the long list of British heavyweight title fights. At this early stage, I go out on a limb and predict a Chisora points win.