Blow for Joseph Parker as Dereck Chisora sets his sights on Oleksandr Usyk instead
08:57, Nov 08 2019
Dereck Chisora appears ready to move on from a proposed showdown with Kiwi heavyweight Joseph Parker as his team chase a potential WBO title tilt against Oleksandr Usyk next year.
The British slugger was scheduled to face Parker in London last month but the New Zealander pulled out because of illness following a suspected spider bite.
Chisora (32-9, 23 KOs) went on to demolish late replacement David Price inside four rounds and immediately called out former WBO world champion Parker after the fight, much to the Kiwi's delight.
But Chisora's manager David Haye now seems keen to put the Parker fight on the backburner as he revealed to Sky Sports in the UK that unbeaten Ukrainian star Usyk (17-0, 13 KOs) was "interested" in fighting his man should the WBO title become vacant.
Former cruiserweight king Usyk is the WBO's mandatory for the winner of next month's rematch between Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz Jr, in which the the IBF and WBA belts will also be on the line in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.
The winner of that highly-anticipated clash will have Usyk and Kubrat Pulev as mandatory challengers, so may be forced to vacate one of their belts. Haye believes Joshua and Ruiz will be keen to avoid the skilful Usyk and may vacate the WBO crown, with Chisora a likely opponent for the London 2012 Olympic gold medallist.
Joseph Parker is keen to reschedule his cancelled fight with Dereck Chisora after pulling out due to illness.
Haye told Sky Sports that "Usyk's people have been in contact with [Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn] to say they are interested".
"The WBO have a convention in Tokyo where I will lobby them. The WBO want exciting fighters, and it makes sense for them to sanction Usyk v Chisora."
Chisora captured the lightly-regarded WBO intercontinental title when he stopped Price, which could see him enter the organisation's rankings.
Dereck Chisora made short work of David Price and has now set his sights on a WBO title shot next year.
Fellow Brit Tyson Fury is currently No 2 in the WBO rankings, behind Usyk, but give that he is targeting a rematch with WBC champion Deontay Wilder, a shot at their title could become available.
"My gut says the WBO [will be vacated] because Usyk is a tricky customer," Haye told Sky Sports. "I believe Joshua will go the Pulev route, a bigger guy who will stand and fight, rather than the Usyk route."
Usyk made his debut at heavyweight last month, stopping American journeyman Chazz Witherspoon inside seven rounds. Having unified all four titles at cruiserweight, he was immediately installed as the WBO's mandatory challenger when he decided to move up in weight.
Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk is the WBO's mandatory challenger and "interested" in a Dereck Chisora fight.
Speaking 10 years to day since he captured the heavyweight title with a majority decision win over Russian giant Nikolai Valuev, Haye talked up Chisora's chances of matching his achievement.
"Derek has more of a shot of achieving that goal [of becoming heavyweight champion] than I did, if you look back to 2004," Haye said.
"It has always been a dream to guide a fighter to winning the heavyweight championship, after I did it myself. This is a target that I believe I can achieve.
"Myself and Evander Holyfield are the only two to win the cruiserweight and heavyweight championships. Usyk would potentially be the third man to ever do it, so I'd like to stop that!
"Whether it's Chisora's next fight or the fight after, it will be for a world title. Imagine Chisora winning a world title? What a turnaround."
Chisora has fought for a world title once before, losing to WBC champion Vitali Klitschko on points in 2012. At the post-fight press conference in Munich, he was involved in an infamous brawl with Haye, which led to a grudge match that his now manager won by fifth-round TKO.
The news that Chisora plans to pursue Usyk will come as a blow to Parker's team, who had hoped to reschedule the cancelled fight for February.
Parker is a one fight into a three-fight deal with Hearn's Matchroom Boxing and is desperate to get back in the world title mix. The Aucklander has only fought once this year, stopping tough Samoan-Australian veteran Alex Leapai in the 10th round back in June.
08:57, Nov 08 2019
Dereck Chisora appears ready to move on from a proposed showdown with Kiwi heavyweight Joseph Parker as his team chase a potential WBO title tilt against Oleksandr Usyk next year.
The British slugger was scheduled to face Parker in London last month but the New Zealander pulled out because of illness following a suspected spider bite.
Chisora (32-9, 23 KOs) went on to demolish late replacement David Price inside four rounds and immediately called out former WBO world champion Parker after the fight, much to the Kiwi's delight.
But Chisora's manager David Haye now seems keen to put the Parker fight on the backburner as he revealed to Sky Sports in the UK that unbeaten Ukrainian star Usyk (17-0, 13 KOs) was "interested" in fighting his man should the WBO title become vacant.
Former cruiserweight king Usyk is the WBO's mandatory for the winner of next month's rematch between Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz Jr, in which the the IBF and WBA belts will also be on the line in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.
The winner of that highly-anticipated clash will have Usyk and Kubrat Pulev as mandatory challengers, so may be forced to vacate one of their belts. Haye believes Joshua and Ruiz will be keen to avoid the skilful Usyk and may vacate the WBO crown, with Chisora a likely opponent for the London 2012 Olympic gold medallist.
Joseph Parker is keen to reschedule his cancelled fight with Dereck Chisora after pulling out due to illness.
Haye told Sky Sports that "Usyk's people have been in contact with [Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn] to say they are interested".
"The WBO have a convention in Tokyo where I will lobby them. The WBO want exciting fighters, and it makes sense for them to sanction Usyk v Chisora."
Chisora captured the lightly-regarded WBO intercontinental title when he stopped Price, which could see him enter the organisation's rankings.
Dereck Chisora made short work of David Price and has now set his sights on a WBO title shot next year.
Fellow Brit Tyson Fury is currently No 2 in the WBO rankings, behind Usyk, but give that he is targeting a rematch with WBC champion Deontay Wilder, a shot at their title could become available.
"My gut says the WBO [will be vacated] because Usyk is a tricky customer," Haye told Sky Sports. "I believe Joshua will go the Pulev route, a bigger guy who will stand and fight, rather than the Usyk route."
Usyk made his debut at heavyweight last month, stopping American journeyman Chazz Witherspoon inside seven rounds. Having unified all four titles at cruiserweight, he was immediately installed as the WBO's mandatory challenger when he decided to move up in weight.
Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk is the WBO's mandatory challenger and "interested" in a Dereck Chisora fight.
Speaking 10 years to day since he captured the heavyweight title with a majority decision win over Russian giant Nikolai Valuev, Haye talked up Chisora's chances of matching his achievement.
"Derek has more of a shot of achieving that goal [of becoming heavyweight champion] than I did, if you look back to 2004," Haye said.
"It has always been a dream to guide a fighter to winning the heavyweight championship, after I did it myself. This is a target that I believe I can achieve.
"Myself and Evander Holyfield are the only two to win the cruiserweight and heavyweight championships. Usyk would potentially be the third man to ever do it, so I'd like to stop that!
"Whether it's Chisora's next fight or the fight after, it will be for a world title. Imagine Chisora winning a world title? What a turnaround."
Chisora has fought for a world title once before, losing to WBC champion Vitali Klitschko on points in 2012. At the post-fight press conference in Munich, he was involved in an infamous brawl with Haye, which led to a grudge match that his now manager won by fifth-round TKO.
The news that Chisora plans to pursue Usyk will come as a blow to Parker's team, who had hoped to reschedule the cancelled fight for February.
Parker is a one fight into a three-fight deal with Hearn's Matchroom Boxing and is desperate to get back in the world title mix. The Aucklander has only fought once this year, stopping tough Samoan-Australian veteran Alex Leapai in the 10th round back in June.