A long-time heavyweight contender, this at the highest level, Dereck Chisora could certainly be referred to as the king of the comeback, at least in the UK. Ten times, Chisora has bounced back from a loss, a number of them looked at as “career-ending” losses at the time of their occurrence.
But instead of calling it quits, Chisora has, time and again, regrouped after being beaten and worked his way to another big fight.
Tomorrow night, it is Daniel Dubois’s turn to prove he can bounce back from a loss. In terms of doing that Chisora has done so many times, Dubois will find it all new, coming back from a loss for the very first time.
And ahead of tomorrow’s fight with Bogdan Dinu, Dubois has been working with and learning from Chisora. Speaking with The Evening Standard, Dubois said the way Chisora has come back from “loads of losses” has inspired him.
“I’ve learned a lot from him – he’s come back from loads of losses and come back so many times,” Dubois said. “The thing he told me is to make the comeback the best part of it. He’s still going on and marching into these wars, so he’s definitely picked up some knowledge in the ring.”
Dubois’ first and, he hopes, the only loss was a painful one in more ways than one. There was the nasty eye injury Dubois suffered against Joe Joyce last year, and then there were those accusations of being a quitter that the 23-year-old had to listen to back in November. Has Dubois healed up, both mentally and physically? Dubois appears relaxed as well as motivated going into the Dinu fight, but we will not know if he has with him any damage until the fight gets going.
On paper, Dubois, with his power and his other physical gifts, should wipe 34-year-old Dinu, 20-2(16) out and quite quickly. But who knows for sure? Dubois says the doctors have told him his eye is fine, but might he suffer some swelling on Saturday night? If so, will Dubois panic? Dubois is, of course, young enough to come again, and he says he will put on an impressive and explosive performance tomorrow night. And then, Dubois told the publication, he would like to fight “a guy like Dillian Whyte.”
“I would like to fight some of those guys like Dillian Whyte and prove I’m the best (guys who were critical of him after the Joyce defeat, Whyte especially),” Dubois said. “It’s time to show that I’m back.”
Dubois still believes he can and will become a world heavyweight champion one day. Right now, ahead of his very first come back, “Dynamite” Dubois, 15-1(14) has to show us what he’s made of.