Has Dereck Chisora muscled his way into another big fight?

By James Slater - 05/25/2016 - Comments

Dereck Chisora is no stranger to controversy and the Londoner is also, apparently, not lacking in reserves of energy. It was just over two weeks ago when “Del Boy” was comprehensively beaten on points by Kubrat Pulev in an unsuccessful challenge for the vacant European title (forget the split decision, this was a clear win for the Bulgarian) – despite this, yesterday, as fellow British big man Dillian Whyte attended a press conference to help promote his recent signing with the Matchroom stable, Chisora burst onto the scene and almost got into a physical fracas with “The Villain,” (or “The Bodysnatcher,” depending on Whyte’s current chosen nickname).

Chisora has been exchanging words with his British rival for some time now (mostly on Twitter) and despite the loss to Pulev on May 7th, his sixth career setback, 32-year-old Chisora is convinced that Whyte is “nothing,” and a fighter he can definitely beat up. Yesterday’s near-brawl attracted much attention – with plenty of video footage available of the war of words that was prevented from escalating into something far more nasty by the on-hand security presence – and the fight has a good chance of happening, maybe later this year.

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Chisora, of course, has seen pre-fight shenanigans help promote a fight or three of his before now. Who can forget the nasty spat he and David Haye got into in Germany a few years back, when Chisora, who had just been beaten by Vitali Klitschko in a competitive fight, swapped fists, and a bottle, with the former cruiserweight king at the post-fight presser Haye had invaded (ironically, to try and get a fight with the elder Klitschko brother). Another bottle surfaced shortly before Chisora’s fight with Pulev, when a Pulev fan reportedly threw one at Chisora at the pre-fight weigh-in. And now we have Chisora storming the Whyte press conference, in search of another big fight that might have added spice due to the tension and near illegal violence that came first.

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The question is, is Chisora still capable of being so nasty, so full of energy and so dangerous in an actual fight in the only place that matters, the ring? In other words, how much has Chisora got left? Another good question might be, how many more times will the paying fans feel the urge to fork out cash to see a fight Chisora has sold, at least partially, with his pre-fight antics? Chisora is (or was) a fine fighter, one capable of pushing the best in the world if not beating them, but hard defeats at the hands of Tyson Fury (twice) Robert Helenius (an acknowledged robbery), Klitschko, Haye and now Pulev have taken their toll on the colourful, likeable and value for money character.

But can Chisora provide value for money anywhere other than inside hotel rooms, whilst crashing press conferences or whilst attending weigh-ins these days? Chisora-Whyte will sell, but if Chisora loses (and it’s a good bet he will) it could be the end of the road for the bad boy who has proven so good at being bad.

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