Is Derek Chisora as good as Oleksandr Usyk?
That’s what Tyson Fury, the loquacious WBC heavyweight titleholder, tried to sell at the news conference Thursday to announce his third fight with Chisora on Dec. 3 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London (ESPN+).
Fury (32-0-1, 23 KOs) seemed to headed for a showdown with three-belt champion Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed title or a meeting with Anthony Joshua, but neither matchup could be made. Thus, he’ll rely on an old – 38 years old – standby in Chisora 33-12 (23 KOs).
Usyk, the former undisputed cruiserweight champion, outpointed Joshua in back-to-back fights last year and in August.
“Usyk was a little small heavyweight who wasn’t going to do anything against AJ,” Fury said. “… But then he stepped up and beat the big bodybuilder (Joshua) and all of sudden he’s a killer? I don’t think so. I rate Derek Chisora as highly as I rate Usyk.”
He went on: “As for me trying to sit here and try to sell Derek Chisora to the fans, I ain’t got to sell absolutely nothing to nobody. With Chisora, it does exactly what it says on the tin: He goes to war. He’s changed his name from ‘Delboy’ to ‘War’, and we’re going to get a war.”
Some might roll their eyes at Fury’s comments because Chisora has lost three of his past four fights.
He lost a clear decision to Usyk in 2020 and suffered back-to-back setbacks against Joseph Parker last year. He bounced back to narrowly outpoint Kubrat Pulev in July. However, he obviously is beyond his peak.
Plus, Fury handled him easily in their second fight back in 2014, scoring a 10th-round knockout. He outpointed Chisora by a wide margin three years earlier.
Early odds have Fury as at least a 20-1 favorite, which is huge by boxing standards.
Still, Fury provided his spin.
“I did outbox him comfortably the second time,” Fury said. “Chisora’s style has changed and guess what – so has mine. I used to be a tip-tap boxer, jabbing around the ring. I’m now an HMS destroyer.
“When you’ve got two heavy forces colliding, someone’s getting knocked out.”
Meanwhile, Frank Warren, Fury’s co-promoter, has said that he expects a meeting with Usyk for all four major titles to happen in the early part of next year.
Fury just has to take care of business in December.
Said Warren: “Tyson can’t afford any slip-up in this fight as he has the much-publicized undisputed match-up with Usyk in the new year, which we’re really looking forward to.”
Of course, Fury believes he will beat anyone who is placed in front of him.
“I can beat anybody in the world,” he said. “Always have been able to and always will be able to. There’s nobody that can touch me. I’m in a league of my own.”
Fury is coming off a sixth-round knockout of Dillian Whyte in April. That followed back-to-back knockouts of Deontay Wilder in 2020 and last year.
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