Eddie Hearn says he wants to match Dereck ‘War’ Chisora against Luis Ortiz, Chris Arreola, or Adam Kownacki in his next fight. Hearn insists the 38-year-old Chisora (32-12-2, 23 KOs) is still performing well in his fights and excelling in training camp.
Hearn wants to put Chisora in a 50-50 fight for his next match-up to give him a better shot at winning.
The 40-year-old Arreola (38-7-1, 33 KOs) would be a good match-up for Chisora, considering he’s lost his last two fights and hasn’t won since 2019.
42-year-old Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz (33-2, 28 KOs) would likely be a step too far for Chisora because the talented Cuban can still punch and possesses boxing skills that he could only dream about having.
Kownacki (20-2, 15 KOs) has lost his last two fights by knockout to Robert Helenius, and he would be someone that Chisora would have a decent chance of beating.
Chisora hasn’t won a fight since 2019 and has suffered three consecutive defeats against Joseph Parker [ x 2] and Oleksandr Usyk. Hearn recently mentioned wanting to put a fight together between Deontay Wilder and Chisora, but he’s given up on that idea.
The Matchroom Boxing promoter Hearn says Wilder (42-2-1, 41 KOs) wouldn’t accept an offer to come to the UK and fight Chisora. It would be a crime for Hearn to let Wilder fight Chisora because the ‘Bronze Bomber’ would likely poleax him with one of his huge rights, and it would be game over.
Hearn has received a lot of criticism from boxing fans since he commented on wanting Wilder to face Chisora because they feel that he will get Dereck hurt in a cash-out type of fight.
In Chisora’s last fight against Joseph Parker on December 18th, he was knocked down three times and badly hurt.
Hearn wants Ortiz, Arreola, or Kownacki for Chisora
“What I said is if Dereck gets past four or five rounds in that fight, I just don’t think Wilder can outlast him in terms of his energy,” said Eddie Hearn to Talksport on his opinion that Chisora would beat former WBC championWilder if the contest goes past four rounds.
“He could get chinned while on the way in, of course, because we know that Wilder punches like a mule, but Dereck Chisora is NOT regressing as a fighter,” said Hearn.
“Everybody keeps saying, ‘Yeah, I need to walk away from the sport now.’ It’s very difficult when you’re looking better than ever in the gym when you’re putting in good performances to actually [walk away].
“What I’d like to see Dereck do is actually have a fight where he’s a 50-50 against Luis Ortiz. It’s a tough fight, but he didn’t look great the other week. Chris Arreola, Adam Kownacki.
“These are great, great Saturday night fight nights for Dereck Chisora, and we’ll see. We’re continuing our talks at the moment.
“He wants to continue fighting, and whilst he does, and he’s fit and healthy to do so, I would still love to have him on the shows,” said Hearn.
If Hearn is intent on artificially keeping Chisora’s fading career alive as long as possible, he needs to match him against someone he can beat. I don’t think Chisora beats Arreola or Luis Ortiz.
Kownacki is beatable because he’s chinny, and he’s coming off consecutive knockout losses to Helenius. While Chisora doesn’t possess the size and power that Helenius has, he still hits hard enough to take advantage of Kownacki’s weak chin.
The only drawback in Hearn choosing Kownacki is that he’s not as well known as Arreola and Ortiz, and the UK casual boxing fans won’t be impressed with seeing Dereck fight him.
Deontay Wilder unlikely to face Chisora
“I don’t think Wilder is going to necessarily take an offer from us and come over to the UK and fight on one of our shows against Dereck Chisora, but who knows?” said Hearn about the unlikelihood that Deontay Wilder will agree to a fight with Chisora. “Wilder is a massive favorite in a fight with Chisora.
“I’m not an idiot. What I do know is if Chisora can find a way to get past those opening few rounds, he’s going to be an absolute nightmare. Can you imagine Deontay Wilder against Dereck Chisora a the O2?” said Hearn in dreaming about a fight that has almost no chance of ever happening in this lifetime.
“It’s a massive event, but I like those other names [Arreola, Kownacki, and Luis Ortiz] as well,” said Hearn about his hopes of getting one or all of those three heavyweights to face Chisora.
“Dereck is always going to be a draw and is always going to hit numbers and always give fans value for money,” said Hearn about his view that Chisora is still useful as a performer.
There is no chance of Hearn getting Wilder to agree to a fight against Chisora unless he wants to raid the Matchroom kitty and come up with the $10 million that it would likely require to get the American to take the fight.