This one would not be for the squeamish. Frank Warren has apparently offered Derek Chisora a fight with Joe Joyce, and Joyce, who spoke with Betway, says he very much wants the fight, along with a fight with another British warrior in Dillian Whyte. Chisora, meanwhile, told IFL TV that although he is certainly interested in a fight with Joyce, he isn’t keen on taking the fight when Joyce and Warren want it, this at the end of the year.
Chisora, a battle-worn warhorse fans have been almost begging to retire for many months, says he has other options open to him, including a fight with Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller. Chisora has not fought since August of last year, when he ground out a decision win over fellow veteran Gerald Washington. Now aged 40 and currently sporting an incredibly hard-earned 34-13(23) record, Chisora has looked close to finished for some time. Yet on he has fought, sometimes winning, other times not.
Joyce, as we know, returned from his two heavy defeats to Zhilei Zhang and his “Big Bang,” this with a far from impressive late stoppage win over huge underdog Kash Ali last month. Joyce has less wear and tear on his body and brain than does Chisora, but at age 38, “The Juggernaut” is not too much younger than the man dubbed “War.” Also, Joyce, currently 16-2(15), moves about as slowly as the current version of Chisora moves on his unsteady legs. Put these two extremely hittable big men together in a ring, and the action would likely be X-rated, with both men shipping punches and slipping very few.
Years back, this would have been a very good fight, a very interesting fight. Yet today, these two chugging and often lumbering heavies would likely give us a rock ’em, sock ’em battle of attrition that would mostly serve to age and damage both men even further than they are right now. Some fans would perhaps ask why Warren would really want to see this fight. A good tag-line for this one if it happened would indeed be ‘Heavy Damage,’ and again, this fight would not be for the squeamish.
That said, plenty of people would tune in to watch if this guaranteed carnage did go down. And in all honesty, it is pretty tough to pick a winner. How much has Chisora possibly got left? How much did those two nasty defeats at the hands of Zhang take out of Joyce? Who has the better chin at this stage, Joyce or Chisora? Who is the faster guy, or perhaps the better question is, who is the slower guy of the two? Would this fight have a prayer of going anywhere close to the distance?
If this fight does happen, both warriors will likely be headed to the nearest hospital straight afterwards. What do you guys think – should this fight happen, and would you watch it if it did take place?
Some fights are foreshadowed by an aura of real danger, and make people think they are better off left unfought. Is this one such fight?