Dereck Chisora turned down the chance to fight Joe Joyce. Chisora wasn’t prepared to risk a career loss at such a pivotal point in his career, unless it was for a massive pay day.
Chisora last fought in March against Zakaria Azzouzi. Chisora made light work of the French man and the fight was over in round two of the scheduled eight.
In his last fight Joe Joyce fought for and won the Commonwealth title against, Lenroy Thomas.
Manager Sam Jones believes the fight was close to being made.
He told Ringnews24.com:
“Yeah [close to being made]. Dereck Chisora, I respect. I don’t think he’s scared of Joe at all. I don’t think he’s scared of any man. He just looked at Joe and thought if he loses to Joe, where does he go?
“I think for TV, that is a great fight. With Chisora’s come forward style, it’s going to be a car crash. It’s going to be two big men having a tear up – what a fight that would be. I think Dereck’s thought to himself, ‘if I lose the fight’, where do I go?
“People don’t take on board that it’s a big risk for Joe. If Joe lost to Dereck Chisora, who is known as, with respect, ‘the gate keeper’ – where does Joe go? It’s high risk for Joe as well, it’s a risky business and a good name for the fight – It’s a risk for both of them. It’s a great fight and a fight we’d love to have.”
Are you still interested in making the fight or have you moved on from Chisora?
“I just don’t think Dereck wants the fight. If Dereck Chisora turned around and said: ‘I want the fight’ then the fight will get made. It’s an easy fight to make and David Haye’s got a very good relationship with Eddie Hearn. It’s a very easy fight to make but I just simply don’t think he wants the fight. You can’t force someone to fight who just doesn’t want to fight him.”