Derek Chisora reveals he’ll RETIRE after Joe Joyce conflict
- Chisora has announced that Saturday’s collision with Joyce will be his last fight
- Chisora and Joyce will go toe-to-toe at their local London O2 on Saturday night
- He will be looking to bow out with ‘a 5th round KO victory’ rather than a defeat
Derek Chisora has announced that this Saturday’s heavyweight collision with Joe Joyce at their local London O2 will be his last fight.
The man who calls himself War insists he will call it a career win, lose or draw against the former silver Olympian
The 40-year-old Chisora insists: ‘This will be my farewell dance party. The saddest day of my whole career.’
The boxing community, which by and large has been urging him to retire for some time, will hope that he sticks by this promise after this his 48th fight.
Calls from many, myself included, for Chisora to spare himself further punishment have become louder since Tyson Fury gifted him a big money cash out fight in December 2022 and looked to have carried him ten rounds at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before executing the inevitable stoppage. That was his last chance to win the world heavyweight title he craved.
Derek Chisora has announced that this Saturday’s collision with Joe Joyce will be his last fight
Chisora (right) and Joyce (left) will go toe-to-toe at their local London O2 on Saturday night
Chisora does now seem to have the right opportunity and venue to bow out. He was in reflective, at times melancholy, sometimes humorous mood as he and Joyce came face to face at a media conference.
He added: ‘We were supposed to fight years ago but it never happened. Now I can go out on what I expect to be an unbelievable great fight in the O2 which I love.’
There was no hint of the aggro which had surfaced when Chisora head butted a provocative Deliveroo motor-biker in a street earlier this week.
Although the police took no action over that spat Joyce chose to remind him by saying: ‘Pick on someone your own size.’
Chisora chuckled at the prospect of punching someone bigger than himself this weekend.
There was not even the faintest hint of War drums beating when they went eyeball to eyeball for the ritual stare-down photographs.
But Chisora did make it clear that he will be seeking to bow out with ‘a 5th round knock out victory’ rather than a defeat.
Chisora (pictured fighting Gerald Washington) did make it clear that he will be seeking to bow out with ‘a 5th round knock out victory’ rather than a defeat
