Haye: Chisora knows Joe Joyce is on another level

Boxingnews24.com

By Tim Royner

Dereck Chisora looked good winning on Saturday night in a 2nd round stoppage over Zakaria Azzouzi, but then rejected a fight against the David Haye promoted heavyweight prospect Joe Joyce for May 5th. Chisora (28-8, 20 KOs) didn’t directly reject the fight with Joyce, but rather he went about it tactically by telling Haye that he’ll take the fight if he gives him his purse for his Tony Bellew 2 rematch.

Chisora wanted Haye to agree to give him his purse if he beats Joyce. Haye wouldn’t agree that to that idea, of course. Chisora was basically telling Haye that he’s not interested in the Joyce fight, but he did it in a way where he tried to make him look bad by him not being willing to make the bet right in front of his own fighter Joyce.

Some boxing fans bought into it and thought Chisora made Haye look bad, but in reality, it was Chisora who was showing that he didn’t fancy the fight with Joyce for whatever reason. Considering that Chisora would have made more money fighting Joyce than what he’s been making, you have to see it as a situation where he didn’t have faith in his ability to beat the 2016 super heavyweight Olympic silver medalist.

“Maybe I thought the Dereck Chisora of old would come out, and bravado, and the fact that everyone is giving him stick would force him to take the fight,” Haye said about Chisora turning down the fight against Joyce for May 5th. “But like I said, he’s older now. He’s got family. He’s got to take care of himself and take care of his health, and I think deep down, he knows Joyce is a different level. His days have come and gone, and Joe’s days are all in front of him. I’d love to see that fight, because I fee; it would be a great scrap for as long as it lasts. It would be a great, great fight, but Chisora unfortunately isn’t interested in it. But maybe after a couple of more wins, he might build some confidence. You never know, but I’m not holding my breath. So, we’re going to start looking at alternative options for big Joe’s opponent or victim on May 5th” Haye said.

Chisora’s win over the 32-year-old Azzouzi got him back on his winning ways following a disappointing 12 round decision loss to Agit Kabayel in his previous fight last November. Chisora showed that he still has a lot of punching power tonight when matched against the right opponent.

Haye is still hoping that he can get Chisora to agree to fight Joyce on his May 5th undercard. It doesn’t look like the fight is going to happen. Chisora’s promoter Eddie Hearn says Haye should pay him the money he’s asking for, because he thinks he’ll take the fight with Joyce if the money is right. Hearn also thinks it’s a clever idea if Chisora fights Carlos Takam on the May 5th card. He says Chisora can face Takam, while Joyce faces a dangerous opponent. Hearn says if Joyce and Chisora both win their fights on the May 5th card, then they can maybe face each other. The problem with that is Chisora could lose to Takam, and then he would say he’s not interested in fighting Joyce. The deal would only work if Chisora wins the fight against Takam. Haye couldn’t likely get Takam to fight Joyce. Besides, that’s a dangerous fight for Joyce to take, as Takam gave Anthony Joshua all kinds of problems last October.

“David said to me, ‘they’re not going to make this fight, is he?’” Hearn said to Fighthype about Chisora not being interested in fighting Joyce. “I said to him, ‘Look, probably not, but if you pay him the money, he’ll probably take the fight.’ Maybe Joyce fights someone really dangerous on that card. Maybe we do Chisora against Takam on that card, and if he gets through, he can fight Joyce after. I don’t know. Hopefully, we can get them both on the May 5th show, and get some good fights,” Hearn said.

Chisora might want too much money for the type of fight that is being offered to him. This is an undercard fight against Joyce, a non-champion. If Chisora is asking for unreasonable money, then you have to see it as a case of him purposefully pricing himself out, so he doesn’t have to take the fight. Chisora telling Haye he needs to give him his entire purse for the Bellew rematch if he beats Joyce is his way of rejecting the fight.

“I don’t know about May 5, I have David Haye and his little chihuahua (Joyce) calling me out. If there isn’t titles involved, I want the money. We do everything for money,”Chisora said to Sky Sports after his win on Saturday. “If the money is right, I’ll take the fight. They keep calling me the gatekeeper. I’ll make a deal right now, If I beat Joyce, you [Haye] give me your purse and TV rights for the Bellew fight. f he doesn’t want to surrender his purse, he can jog on. Who wears cane rows at 37. I don’t make excuses, I never had a broken toe.”

Chisora is going to have to take some risky fights regardless if he wants a future title shot against Joshua. He’s not going to get that fight by taking non-risky 2nd tier fighters like we saw tonight.

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