Dereck Chisora poses for a photo ringside during the Heavyweight fight between Dillian Whyte and Mariusz Wach. Photo / Getty Images.
Dereck Chisora poses for a photo ringside during the Heavyweight fight between Dillian Whyte and Mariusz Wach. Photo / Getty Images.
OPINION:
Derek Chisora, the man with the table-throwing, press conference brawling past, has invited Joseph Parker to breakfast before their fight on Sunday.
The offer appears to be a strange contradiction from an individual who has called Parker a chicken, heartless and gutless in the lead-up to their bout in Manchester, a man who will also be doing his best to knock Parker out of the ring when they fight, but the Londoner is a man of contrasts.
Chisora has never kept promoters guessing in terms of his wants and needs; he comes right out with it and often in front of the cameras at press conferences days before scheduled fights.
In one case he told Eddie Hearn he wasn't happy being on the undercard of a bout and if he wasn't bumped up to the main event he wanted an extra slice of the revenue. Hearn, a man who has never seen a microphone he didn't want to speak into, couldn't get off the stage fast enough.
The 37-year-old Chisora has a long history of such antics, and worse, but he also has a nice line in comic timing and he has spoken well of the need for those in the United Kingdom, and elsewhere, to look after their mental health during the pandemic and its associated lockdowns. He's also now a family man who lives on a farm north of London with a herd of cows.
British heavyweight boxer Dereck Chisora attends a bout between British boxer Anthony Joshua and his American rival Andy Ruiz Jr. Photo / Getty Images.
He's all about the business of boxing (pounds and pence in his case) but leans on the imagery of "war" and another of his catchphrases is "no mercy". He also appears to have the potential to be amiable company and can look out for his fellow heavyweights, especially those fighting individuals he doesn't like.
Before Parker's fight against Dillian Whyte in London in 2018, Chisora stepped into the Kiwi's bus following the official weigh-in the day before the bout and offered him some advice: "Bro, sleep well. I tell you, man – get on your bike for six rounds and get him to play catch-up. That's your game, bro."
Parker disregarded it – he was aggressive from the start which may or may not have contributed to the accidental headbutt which scrambled his senses for the majority of the fight before his thrilling comeback – but it's advice he would do well to follow against Chisora.
His opponent is tough and durable. He is also capable of a stunning one-punch knockout. But his best chance of victory is to lure Parker off his bike and (to mix in another metaphor he is fond of) into the trenches.
His greatest trait is probably his ability to entertain in and out of the ring via his penchant for the unexpected. It is what has kept punters tuning into his fights no matter the quality of the opposition and in Parker's case the opposition is elite, or just under that level.
Joseph Parker (L) a Derek Chisora. Photo / Getty Images.
It's here that Chisora will be at a disadvantage. Covid restrictions mean there will be no crowd at the Manchester Arena, one of the largest indoor venues in Europe. The arena has a capacity of 21,000, but there will be only about 200 people in the cavernous place, a group made up of broadcasters, media, trainers, medical staff and associated workers.
There will be no Chisora chants, no loud support to lift sagging body, spirits, or both. The fight will play out in the near sterile environment of a laboratory which should play right into the hands of Parker, who at his best can be a clinical and ruthless technician. He's the better boxer by far.
Parker is also a crowd pleaser, a man with a growing fanbase in the United Kingdom who picked up new supporters by the day during his camp in Dublin and Morecambe, the latter an hour's drive north of Manchester, thanks to his approachability and that of his new Irish trainer Andy Lee.
A win will grow that support and keep him in the United Kingdom for another fight at least. It will be good for business, something that Chisora will be the first to appreciate, because, really, that's what professional boxing is all about.
