Promoter Frank Warren still believes it’s going to be difficult for the loser of tonight’s heavyweight contest between Joe Joyce and Derek Chisora to come back. Warren points out that the ages of 38-year-old Joyce (16-2, 15 KOs) and 40-year-old Chisora (34-13, 23 KOs) will hinder the loser in climbing their way back.
Joyce vs. Chisora headline tonight on ESPN+ in a twelve-round fight at the O2 Arena in London. The way that Chisora has been talking during the build-up, this might be the end of his career.
Age as a Barrier to Comeback
It’s unlikely that the winner of tonight’s fight will ever get a shot at fighting for a world title against Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury, or Anthony Joshua. Those three are expected to continue fighting each other for the next couple of years. Chisora and Joyce will be too old when there’s an opening.
Chisora hasn’t fought in a year, and he’s quite wealthy, having earned many millions during his 17-year professional career, and he doesn’t need to keep fighting, especially if he’s no longer being offered main event spots.
Joyce is in a different position. He hasn’t made the money that Chisora has, and he needs to keep fighting to earn the big bucks.
“I think the loser of this fight has a long way if they can get back. The winner goes on. It’s an age thing,” said promoter Frank Warren to Title Sports Network, talking about tonight’s clash between Joe Joyce and Derek Chisora.
Let’s not kid ourselves. The winner of the Joyce-Chisora fight isn’t going anywhere either, and the best they can hope for is to continue getting domestic spots at the top of the cards in London. It’s not like the victor of tonight’s clash is suddenly going to battle for a world title in 2025. That’s not happening.
“Derek is 40 years of age. I said he should have retired a few years ago,” Warren continued. “That’s my opinion. He’s out to prove me wrong. He may be right. We’re going to find out. Joe was one of the most avoided heavyweights at one stage.”
Chisora’s Diminishing Returns
Chisora would have retired if he weren’t given headliner spots. That’s what’s keeping him going, and it’s strange that fans still want to watch him, given that he keeps losing like clockwork. It’s unsettling to watch Chisora fight nowadays because he’s incapable of beating contenders, and it’s not interesting watching him fight 40+-year-olds like Gerald Washington and Kubrat Pulev.
“He had that great win over Joe Parker, who has since resurrected his career, and unfortunately [Joyce] had those two losses against Zhang,” Warren said about Joyce. “One was an injury, and the second one was pretty emphatic. So, he can’t afford to slip up again. He’s got less miles on the clock as a professional fighter, but this is s*** or bust for both of them,” said Warren about Joyce and Chisora.
Joyce’s fight against Joseph Parker in 2022 took a lot out of him. His hand speed has slowed, and he now resembles a walking punching bag. That’s why he was knocked out twice by Zhilei Zhang and struggled against British gatekeeper Kash Ali.
“He’s had less fights, Joe, but he’s probably taken the same number of punches because he’s so easy to hit,” said journalist Jeff Powell to Pro Boxing Fans about Joyce having almost as much mileage on his odometer as Chisora.
Joyce has taken a lot of punishment in his fights against Parker, Zhang, Daniel Dubois, and Bryant Jennings in the pro ranks. As an amateur, Joyce was in many wars and was beaten up by Oleksandr Usyk in their five-round clash in the World Series of Boxing.
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