Former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker and Dereck Chisora talked on Facetime on Thursday, agreeing to a May fight.
Parker, 29, says he “promises to take the fight with the 37-year-old Chisora, and let’s hope so. It will be a waste of Chisora’s time if Parker pulls out of another fight against him.
Parker (28-2, 21 KOs) backed out of a scheduled 2019 match with Chisora (32-10, 23 KOs), saying a spider had bitten him. Hopefully, we don’t see a repeat of that episode.
Many boxing fans gave the New Zealander Parker grief over that, believing that he didn’t fancy the fight.
This is a good fight for Chisora because a victory over #3 WBO Parker will improve his chances for a world title shot against the Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury winner in 2022.
Chisora: “I’m ready to go. How about you? I’m ready to rock and roll, so you tell me.”
Parker: “Promise. I’m ready to come and have a great fight with you.”
Chisora wasn’t impressed with Parker’s recent win over Junior Fa on February 27th, with him winning a lackluster 12 round unanimous decision in Auckland, New Zealand.
Although Parker appeared to be in excellent condition, he looked slow of hand and foot, nothing like the fighter that had beaten Andy Ruiz Jr, Carlos Takam, and Hughie Fury in the past.
Parker is only 29, but he looks like he’s slowing down as he approaches 30.
“The fight was not great. The simple reason for that was they didn’t spar a lot,” said Chisora to Sky Sports on Parker’s fight against Junior Fa on February 27th.
“They were not in shape; they didn’t train hard enough. There was no fear factor for both of them.
“Parker did what he needed to win. This was his comeback fight after a year. He’s just getting into his stride.”
If what Chisora is true about Parker, that would be great, but he looked slow in his previous two fights against Shawndell Terrell Winters and Alex Leapai.
Parker can still punch, but he doesn’t look like the fighter Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte fought in 2018.
Chisora has been looking better than ever in his recent fights against Oleksandr Usyk, David Price, and Artur Szpilka. Derek came close to pulling off an upset against unbeaten #1 WBO Usyk last October at Wembley.
If not for Chisora fading down the stretch, he would have won the fight. Some boxing fans feel that Chisora deserved at least a draw, if not a win. That version of Chisora beats Parker and does it quite easily.