Derek Chisora beat Joe Joyce against the odds this weekend in London, delivering one final thrilling night for the fans at the O2 Arena.
The 40-year-old said farewell to the venue that has played host to knockouts over Artur Szpilka, Carlos Takam and David Price by dropping Joyce and winning a unanimous decision despite looking completely gassed himself.
At the post-fight press conference Chisora praised Joyce – who said in the aftermath he wouldn’t retire either – and his toughness.
“I knew but tough but Jesus Christ that guy is tough. He was tough. I was tired, but I had to dig deep … A couple rounds I was moving back, my legs were all over the place, good shots. There was two big guys in there, bro. The whole point is to stay up and just keep moving. It was beautiful and tough at the same time.
Chisora intends to fight on twice more to take his record to 50 in total, and has targeted a Manchester return in December. He said he would ‘100%’ have a trilogy fight with heavyweight rival Dillian Whyte ‘if he is clean.’
“I would have a rematch with Dillian as long as he’s clean, that’s the whole point. If he’s clean I’ll do that with him. 100%. But there’s no point who’s fighting a guy who’s not clean … If he wants a rematch I’ll give him it and I’ll get on the same stuff he’s on.”
Whyte has beaten Chisora twice, first via a close and hard-fought split decision back in 2016 and then with a conclusive knockout two years later.
‘The Bodysnatcher’ was set to have a rematch with Anthony Joshua last year but was pulled at the last minute due to testing positive for a banned substance. It was the third time in his campaign such results had been returned, but was later ruled to have come from a contaminated substance. He is free to fight and recently defeated Christian Hammer in a comeback bout. He was in attendance for Chisora’s win.
