A loss doesn’t always mean terrible things for a boxer but at a certain stage in a fighter’s career there can often seem like no way back from defeat.
And that is the crossroads at which two British heavyweights find themselves when they headline at The O2 on Saturday 27 July.
In one corner will be Joe Joyce who had built up great momentum with wins over the likes of Joseph Parker and Daniel Dubois only to be stopped twice in back-to-back fights by Zhilei Zhang last year. He has since had one straightforward comeback win against Kash Ali back in March.
In the opposite corner is London veteran Derek Chisora who has lost several times before against the likes of Parker, Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte but has also beaten Gerald Washington and Kubrat Pulev in recent times.
Speaking to iFL TV ahead of the contest, Joyce’s promoter Frank Warren has said defeat could spell be the end for either man.
“I’ve said a couple of years ago that Derek should have retired so is he going to prove me wrong or not?
Up to Joe getting those defeats against Zhilei Zhang there were a lot of people avoiding him. He was the interim world champion and a lot of people thought he would become the next world champion, a tough guy, anyway that changed for him after those fights so this is a crossroads fight for him as it is for Derek.
One of them is going to lose, that’s for sure, and I think the loser will be out of the game. This is a career-defining fight for them. Everything is on the line.”
