We’ve been here before. After a tough, at times laboured performance from Derek Chisora, with fans seeing the extremely likeable ring warrior trudge through yet another one, his legs looking slow, his balance far from on-point, his punches seemingly being fired through treacle, his heart as massive as ever, the calls for his retirement are ringing out. And so it is right now.
Chisora, bleeding and tired, got the win over Gerald Washington, but “War” looked far from good in doing so. Washington, now 20-6-1(13) is 41 years old and he last won a fight in 2019, ironically enough, this win coming against Robert Helenius, who of course got whacked out by AJ in last night’s headliner.
Fans were moved to take to social media, calling for the 39 year old who now has a 34-13(23) record to retire on the back of the win. Chisora will almost certainly ignore these people, as he has done time and again, since around the summer of 2021, when fans really did begin calling for his retirement. It seems a certainty that Chisora will fight again, and again, and maybe again after that.
Eddie Hearn, speaking last night with Pro Boxing Fans, said it would be “disrespectful” for him to call for Chisora to call it a day.
“I think it was a sluggish performance, against a difficult style for him, some that that moves a lot,” Hearn said of Chisora’s win. “The question is, do I feel that Derek Chisora should retire? I think it’s disrespectful from me to voice too much of an opinion on that….to someone that knows himself better than anybody.
If I’m being completely honest, and if he phoned me up and said, ‘that’s it for me,’ I’d be pleased. Because that’s a good time to bow out, after a victory. I don’t think he can win a fight at the top tier of the heavyweight division anymore. And I don’t want to see him get stopped in a fight or whatever.”
It is the “whatever” that Chisora’s fans fear. It would be horrific if Chisora got badly hurt, or permanently injured in a fight. And each time he continues to roll the dice by stepping back into the ring, this is what Chisora is risking.
However, as long as there are fans wishing to watch Chisora fight, and as long as there is someone willing to pay him to do so, on the show will go. Just don’t expect everyone to be happy about it. At all.
