Promoter Frank Warren is interested in putting together a fight between WBO mandatory Joe Joyce and Derek Chisora to keep ‘The Juggernaut’ busy while he waits for his mandated title shot against WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.
Joyce (13-0, 12 KOs) held onto his position as the WBO mandatory last weekend, stopping Carlos Takam in the sixth round at the SSE Arena in London, UK.
Chisora commented after the fight that he felt that it was stopped too soon for his tastes, and he said thought Takam had won the first five rounds before Joyce scored a technical knockout in the sixth.
Interestingly, when asked if he’d be willing to fight Joyce, Chisora said they couldn’t “afford” him.
Instead of fighting Joyce, Chisora (32-11, 23 KOs) is looking to face #3 WBO Joseph Parker in a rematch. Parker defeated Chisora by a 12 round split decision on May 1st in Manchester, England.
Fighting Parker won’t help Chisora’s career as much as a match against Joyce, considering that he would be the WBO mandatory if he defeats him.
Chisora could potentially get a lucrative payday against WBO champion Joshua or whoever ends up with that title in 2022.
“If Joe and his team tell me they want a tick over fight whilst we are waiting on AJ or Usyk, someone like Del Boy could work,” said Frank Warren to Sky Sports.
“We tried to make the fight for July 24 and have done so before,” Warren continued about him wanting to put a fight together between Joyce and Chisora.
“His [Chisora] team have told me he doesn’t fancy it. He was even saying the same this weekend and that he wants to fight [Joseph] Parker and not Joe Joyce.
“The reward for beating Joe would put Derek in the No.1 spot with the WBO, but he wants to fight Parker, a lower-ranked guy? That’s the mentality, I suppose, after 11 losses,” Warren said of Chisora.
The only way it makes sense for Chisora to take a rematch with Parker over a fight with Joyce is if Derek doesn’t believe he can win. Of course, the money could change his view. If Warren offered Chisora a big payday, bigger than what he would get fighting Parker, he might do it.
Chisora likely won’t beat Parker in the rematch, as it was all he could do to make it close in losing a 12 round split decision last May. That was with Parker fighting scared and not unloading with combinations the way he normally does.
Parker will be improved in the rematch, and he’ll likely blow Chisora out of there, ending his hopes for a high ranking.
Joyce has wanted to fight Chisora for some time, but it’s just never happened. With Juggernaut holding the WBO mandatory spot, it’s difficult to understand why Chisora wouldn’t take that fight.