The manager of evergreen heavyweight Dereck Chisora 32-10 (23) has claimed the team behind Oleksandr Usyk 18-0 (13) told him his charge won their fight in October.
The 37-year-old Chisora pressured the undefeated Ukrainian southpaw for 12 rounds at Wembley Arena in London only to lose a razor-thin unanimous decision by scores of 115-113, 115-113 and 117-112.
According to manager David Haye, he was told by Usyk’s team after the fight that Chisora deserved the nod.
“We’ve had many, many moments over the years,” Haye told Sky Sports. “The high point for me was the final bell against Oleksandr Usyk in his last fight. He really pushed it and I was sitting with Usyk’s team and they all looked at me and said: ‘Dereck has won that fight.’
“They were scoring it, they had Dereck winning by one or two rounds, and they said it was a close fight, but we definitely feel Dereck won that fight. I thought he won the fight as well, although the judges had it the other way.”
Chisora returns to action on Saturday when he battles former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker 28-2 (21) at the AO Arena in Manchester.
It is another crossroads bout with the winner remaining in heavyweight contention while the loser will be relegated to gatekeeper.
New Zealander Parker, 29, knows he is in for a tough fight.
“I feel like he is still a threat, I feel like he has a lot to give to the heavyweight division still,” Parker told talkSPORT.
“But my goal is to stop him; my goal is to beat him and move onto bigger and better fights. But I am fully focused on putting on a good performance.
“I know he is going to bring pressure, I know he is going to throw a lot of combinations and punches which is what he does.
“I think at this stage of his career he’s throwing a lot more punches in fights than before. So he has got a lot to give, but I feel I’ve got youth on my side and good speed and good movement.”
Haye says Chisora showed him enough against Usyk to prove he still has a lot to give.
“Dereck Chisora, who has lost 10 professional fights now, was able to push the number one contender in the world at heavyweight to the absolute limit and lose on such a fine margin,” Haye said.
“That showed to me that okay, everyone thought he was going to get his head boxed off, that he was going to get absolutely annihilated, and he didn’t. It was because he did what he needed to do in those training sessions to give himself the best chance.
“Although it was a lowlight, it was still a highlight to know that it can be done. He was very close. Hopefully what we missed out on last time, we’ll be able to go that little bit further.”
