British heavyweight warrior Derek Chisora turns 40 next month, but the old warhorse has no intention of calling it a day, a career. To the contrary, the man for whom plenty of people have been urging retirement for some years, is calling for the biggest fight out there for him. With no chance of the man formerly known as “Del Boy,” now nicknamed “War,” getting a world title shot, Chisora is calling for a fight with the man everyone is still talking about due to the way he shocked the heck out of Tyson Fury and out of the sport itself…..Francis Ngannou.
No matter that plenty of fans see Chisora taking a bad beating if he gets in there with the Nigerian man-mountain who did so much damage to Fury, with some already referring to the possible fight as something that would be akin to a ‘car crash,’ or a ‘train wreck,’ Chisora stopped listening to people a long time ago. Chisora goes by his own drumbeat, and right now he’s trying to drum up interest in a fight between he and the 0-1 boxer who has been linked to all manner of possible fights.
Chisora has even put out a mock fight poster on social media, and he says he is deadly serious about wanting this fight.
“I want everybody, I want Francis Ngannou yeah, I wanna get it,” Chisora told IFL TV. “It’ll be a great fight and I’ll knock him out. He’s amazing, he’s a great fighter, he’s a strong guy, he’s a great MMA fighter, he caught Tyson on a bad day and it happens.”
But would Chisora find himself having a really bad day if he fought, and got caught, by Ngannou? Fury may have been under-par on the night he fought Ngannou, in what he almost certainly felt would be an easy fight for him (despite what he has said to the contrary). But we all saw Ngannou’s raw power and his immense physical strength. How would the smaller, older, far more worn Chisora, who has looked like he’s been fighting on unsteady legs for some time, his balance poor, have any chance with the former UFC heavyweight ruler?
Chisora’s heart and desire, both of which have not deserted him, are admirable qualities, but they are also worrying. Chisora just might get what he wants here, and Ngannou would surely hand him a beating if the fight did happen. It could be one big black eye for the sport. Chisora needs protecting from himself. And from Francis Ngannou.
And as for Chisora knocking the immensely strong and powerful Ngannou out, it should be pointed out that Chisora, 34-13(23) hasn’t stopped anybody since 2019, this when he took out the notoriously ‘chinny’ David Price. Would Chisora’s best shots merely bounce off Ngannou? Would Chisora be able to land any punches on Ngannou?
Do we need to see this fight? No.