The night of December 18th will be a pretty big one for British boxing. That night in Glasgow, unified 140-pound king Josh Taylor will face his mandatory challenger Jack Catterall, while on Dec. 18th in Manchester we will see the rematch between heavyweight contenders Joseph Parker and Dereck Chisora; the fight announced, to take place at The Manchester Arena.
It was Manchester where Parker and Chisora went to war back in May, with former WBO heavyweight champ Parker being awarded a close, debatable 12 round split decision. As is always the case when Chisora is in action, fans sure got their money’s worth that night. There is absolutely no reason to think we will get a dull affair when these two lock horns all over again. But who wins this time? Will it be repeat or revenge?
For my money, it will be repeat; as in Chisora will win again. Sometimes a fan can say to heck with the judges, and the May 1 battle is just such an example. Chisora decked Parker in the opening round and he appeared to win more rounds, although Parker did come on strong in the later rounds. It seemed at the time that “War” just never gets a break. Now these two exciting fighters, both of them fine sportsmen, will put each other through hell again.
How much has Chisora, 32-11(23) got left? It seems we’ve been asking this question for quite some time now. The 37-year-old (Chisora will turn 38 on December 29th) has been in a number of tough and gruelling battles and there is a limit to how much even as passionate a warrior like Chisora can take. Parker, age 29 and 29-2(21) is a whole lot fresher, yet to repeat, this writer had Chisora winning the fight in May (maybe you did too?)
Chisora has shown an amazing ability to go to the well time and again, and so far he has never come up dry. Nobody can ever write Chisora off and it’s the same with this fight. Repeat or revenge? Look for another tough, draining and physically demanding 12-rounder that gives us plenty of action. But which way will the judges see things this time?
All that we know for sure is this: the action will be as red-hot as Chisora is still able to make it. Chisora knows no other way than to go into the trenches and give it all he has.