Chisora joins Hearn’s Matchroom Sport

Boxingnews24.com

By Scott Gilfoid: British promoter Eddie Hearn has added former heavyweight world title challenger Dereck Chisora (26-7, 18 KOs) to his Matchroom Sport stable. This is a predictable move on Hearn’s part, as it gives him another recognizable heavyweight to eventually match against his fighter IBF/WBA champion Anthony Joshua in the near future in a year or two.

Hearn also has in mind putting Chisora back in with Dillian Whyte, who he also promotes. With adding Chisora to his stable, Hearn will have his hands on the gear shift for the Chisora-Whyte rematch without him needing to work with another outside promoter.

It’ll be interesting to see how long Chisora remains with Hearn’s stable before they part ways. We’re talking about an aging heavyweight with Chisora.

Chisora is from the UK, and he’s previously fought for a world title and lost against former WBC champion Vitali Klitschko in 2012.

At 33, Chisora is nearing the end of his career in terms of being a world class contender. He doesn’t have much more time left to make a splash.

Chisora’s career has recently hit a downturn with him losing 2 out of his last 3 fights to Dillian Whyte and Kubrat Pulev. The loss to Whyte, a 12 round split decision, was a fight that could have swung Chisora’s way. It was one of those fights where either guy could have won. Boxing News 24 scored it for Chisora. Whyte did a good job of fighting hard in the later rounds to salvage the win after Chisora faded.

Chisora will be back inside the ring this month on September 30 against an opponent still to be determined at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England. The idea is for Chisora to fight this month, and then go after the European heavyweight strap against Agit Kabayel in November. Chisora is kind of up there in age to be fighting for European straps. That’s a backwards move for him, but if he’s on board with taking his career backwards, then there’s not much you can say. I personally see that as a regressive move on Chisora’s part. The September 30th fight will be a tune-up for Chisora to get him back to his winning ways.

Chisora does well when fighting B-level heavyweights. Each time Chisora gets beaten, he’s matched against a series of lesser fighters, and he looks great beating them. But when Chisora is put in with guys that have some boxing ability, size and power, he falls apart.

Chisora has lost to these fighters during his career:

• Vitali Klitschko

• Robert Helenius

• Tyson Fury x 2

• David Haye

• Kubrat Pulev

• Dillian Whyte

The best name that Chisora has beaten during his career is Malik Scott, who he beat by a 6th round knockout on July 20, 2013. That was a fight in which Chisora knocked Scott down with a rabbit punch to the back of the head. The fight was then stopped after Scott misjudged the count. It looked like an illegal blow to the back of Scott’s head, but the referee let it stand.

“You know what you are going to get with Del Boy, plenty of drama and a load of heart – he will return to action in Liverpool and challenge for the European title on November,” said Hearn. We will work towards a Whyte rematch for early next year, it’s a fight that I think boxing needs to see again.”

If Chisora beats Whyte, he’ll put himself in position to get a big money fight against Joshua. That would obviously be a dream come true for Chisora. We’re talking big money for Chisora if he can get a fight against Joshua, given that it would be televised on Sky Box Office PPV in the UK. I can’t say it would be a competitive fight. Chisora, 6’2″, is short and he throws a lot of wide shots. It would likely be a simple task for the 6’5″ Joshua to shoot jabs and right hands down the middle all night to take care of Chisora.