Published on 2 Dec 2022 5:57 pm (UK Time)
On Saturday Frank Warren’s Queensberry promotions, Bob Arum’s Top Rank and BT Sport bring us the heavyweight clash between WBC world champion Tyson Fury and his old foe Derek Chisora.
The world heavyweight champion is coming off a win over another British rival Dillian Whyte. When the big hitters met back in April of this year in front of 96,000 at Wembley stadium Fury won by 6th-round knockout from a huge uppercut to Whyte. His challenger Chisora is also heading into the fight on the back of a win against Kubrat Pulev which came in July of this year.
The pair have met twice before with Fury winning the first fight by unanimous decision in 2011 and the second by Chisora retiring on his stool at the end of the tenth round. With the last match upcoming eight years ago in 2014 and Chisora being beaten convincingly on both occasions boxing fans have expressed their feelings ahead of the third fight. Some positive and some negative. But the fact of the matter is that boxing is a business and Chisora is a huge name in the UK so it sells, not only to the boxing hardcore fanbase but to the general public as well.
Fury likes to talk a lot, he is the master of keeping people interested even when they dislike him. He has received vigorous amounts of criticism from fans on social media for the things he’s said. However, at one point Muhammed Ali was the most disliked man in boxing because of the things he had said and now is considered by many as the greatest of all time.
Tyson Fury isn’t Ali but there are comparisons between the two, the outspoken nature of each individual constantly has people talking whether that be good or bad. And then there is the fighting style of the big men, ‘float like a butterfly, sting like a bee’ is attached to the American heavyweight and the way Fury fights rings true to that. A style that is only matched in the division by fellow heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.
So can anybody get the better of Fury before he retires? Fury and Chisora know the latter doesn’t have the skill set to match him and his only real chance of winning would be to knock the current champion out. A puncher’s chance albeit but one punch can change everything. The duo have promised us the best first round in boxing history where both men will try to emulate if not better that of Marvin Hagler vs Thomas Hearns in April 1985.
Tottenham Hotspur stadium is the venue for the mega fight which is expected to be a sell-out of 60,000. This will be the second time the new stadium will be host to a boxing event after Anthony Joshua lost his unified titles Oleksandr Usyk by a unanimous decision in September 2021.
In an interview with Queensberry which aired on their YouTube channel earlier this week, Tyson explains his relationship with the sport and said “I’ve been in love with boxing for such a long time from being a little boy and I am 34 now, probably at the end of my career in the next few years. It has been a love-hate relationship and it has been toxic at times, but when it is good, it is very good.”
With that being said we can only sit back, admire and enjoy the remaining years we have of one of the greatest heavyweights to ever grace the squared circle.
Chief support: Daniel ‘Dynamite’ Dubois vs Kevin ‘KO kid’ Lerena.
WBA heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois makes the first defence of his world title which he picked up in a demolition job on American Trevor Bryan in Miami earlier this year. He faces the very dangerous South African Kevin Lerena who most recently had the better of Marius Wach in a 12-round unanimous decision win after a 4 fight knockout streak since 2019.
A great match which has captured the public interest as young Dubois is incredibly popular with UK fans due to his knockout power and exciting style.
A win will see Dubois elevated to WBA mandatory to Oleksandr Usyks ‘super’ title as the association try and minimise the number of belts across the 17 weight classes in boxing. With the landscape of the heavyweight division constantly changing I feel we are coming into the peak time of this current era where the men at the top of the pile will all box one another.
Undercard, PPV price and start times:
Yvan Mendy vs Denys Berinchyk – 12-round lightweight contest.
Karol Itauma vs Vladimir Belujsky -8 round light heavyweight contest.
Isaac Lowe vs Sandeep Singh Bhatti – 6-round featherweight contest.
Royston Barney-Smith vs Cruz Perez – 4-round lightweight contest.
Pay Per View is priced at £26.95 with the coverage starting on BT Sport at 6 pm with the main event ring walk time set for 9 pm.
