Derek Chisora is adamant that mind games played pre-fight should not affect a fighter. If they do, the man on the receiving end is ‘weak.’
Much loved British heavyweight Chisora is very much in the twilight of a long career. The now 41-year-old ‘Del Boy’ has always been in hugely entertaining fights and is a larger-than-life character outside the ring.
His mantra is ‘War’ and that’s often how his fights play out, particularly in this stage of his campaign. He has so far had 48 of them and won 35, with 28 coming by way of knockout.
In that time he has shared the ring with Dillian Whyte, Joseph Parker, Tyson Fury, and Vitali Klitschko and he also welcomed Oleksandr Usyk up to heavyweight, later being praised for giving the all-time great tough night’s work.
He has never held a world title but has recently scored good wins over Joe Joyce, Kubrat Pulev and Gerald Washington to keep his career going.
Speaking to BoxNation, Chisora was asked about whether or not pre-fight face offs and ‘getting in the head’ of your opponent had any impact come fight night.
“Face-offs don’t pay the bills. Winning pays the bills. I don’t believe in that.”
It was then put to him that Wladimir Klitschko admitted he lost some mind games when he fought and lost his world titles for the first time in many years to Fury back in 2015, but Chisora doubled down on his view.
“That’s Wladimir cause he’s weak. He’s weak. I don’t believe in any man getting in my head. Those are just words. We’re cool but I’m saying he’s weak. Who cares.”
Klitschko reigned supreme in the heavyweight ranks alongside his brother Vitali between the years of 2004 and 2015. That came to an end when the big-punching Ukrainian came up against Fury, who upset the odds to win a clear decision. Klitschko would return two years later only to be stopped by Anthony Joshua in a firefight and subsequently retire.
However, rumblings of an often discussed comeback have recently increased, with his manager saying that he has always been keen to return and beat George Foreman’s record as the division’s oldest world champion. Right now, that could only come against Daniel Dubois as he would not face fellow Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk, who holds the other three titles.
Chisora fights former Fury foe Otto Wallin in Manchester on February 8 and has said he then hopes to have one more fight to get to 50 contests before he retires.
