Boxing
Tony Bellew on Derek Chisora's latest fight with Kubrat Pulev: 'He'll always welcome a challenge'
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I’m not surprised in the slightest that my old mate Derek Chisora is continuing to fight on.
Next month, Chisora faces Kubrat Pulev in a rematch of their 2016 encounter and it’s impossible to predict what’s going to happen as both fighters are so unpredictable, and anything can happen when either of them get in the ring.
If I was advising ‘Del’ then I’d be telling him to consider calling it a day, but he loves to fight and that’s what makes him a dangerous man every time he steps in the ring. He’s been around the sport for such a long time, and he’s fought the very best names that the heavyweight division has to offer. No matter the result, he just dusts himself down and says, ‘Let’s go again.’
There’s a lot to like in that attitude but I do worry about the day when it does get a bit too much for him. In recent fights against Oleksandr Usyk and Joseph Parker, there were enough moments were Chisora showed he still has a lot to offer but over the distance in all three fights, he just wasn’t able to have enough. If that doesn’t change against Pulev then it’s hard to see where he goes next.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with just falling short against the likes of Usyk and Parker. These are championship-level fighters who will give most heavyweights a hard night, but a loss to Pulev could be damaging for Chisora’s career moving forward because it likely spells the end of him being taken seriously as a top fighter in the division.
The Bulgarian was an outstanding amateur and his rise up the pro rankings was impressive until he was absolutely smashed to bits by Wladimir Klitschko in 2014. In 2020, he was beat up really badly again by Anthony Joshua and with Pulev now 41 years of age, Chisora will never have a better chance to get revenge over the man who beat him six years ago.
No matter what the result on July 9th, I’m 100% you’ll see Chisora in a ring again this year. He just loves it. Perhaps a bit too much. I’ve spent so much time around him on both a personal and professional level, and fighting is what makes him tick. He’s given so much to the sport and I worry that one day he’ll give too much.
As it stands, I think his dream of winning a world title is certainly gone. There’s not a chance he’s fighting to secure a shot at someone like Tyson Fury or Joshua. This is just life for Chisora now and because he loves fighting, he’ll always welcome a challenge.
That’s how I look at his future now, if there’s a challenge then Chisora will always welcome it. That could be a risky outlook for him, but he'll be entertaining in the process, and that’s why people will watch on July 9th.
