Joe Joyce faces Derek Chisora in a twelve-round heavyweight contest this Saturday, July 27th, on ESPN+ at the O2 Arena in London, England. The event starts at 2:00 pm ET. It’ll also be shown live on TNT Sports in the UK.
It’s unclear what kind of ratings ESPN hopes to get showing Joyce-Chisora in the U.S. The 2016 Olympic silver medalist Joyce has lost two out of his last three fights and looked terrible in a
You can call it a tune-up level match-up for the 38-year-old ‘Juggernaut’ Joyce (16-2, 15 KOs) because he still has a little left in the tank, but not much.
If Joyce has anything left of the talent he showed in his 11th-round knockout of Joseph Parker in September 2022, he should make easy work of Chisora on Saturday night. This fight is a total mismatch on paper, as the 6’6″ Joyce is on another level as Chisora.
Fans consider both of these heavyweights ready to be mothballed, but somehow, they can still draw crowds in the UK to headline events. The 40-year-old Chisora (34-13, 23 KOs) looked awful in his last fight, knocking out Kash Ali in the tenth round last March.
Joyce can still beat some of the top 15 contenders. It’s weird that he’s being given Chisora as an opponent. He deserves better than this because the only two defeats Joyce has suffered were against Zhilei Zhang. That’s a guy that even Anthony Joshua won’t fight due to the high risk involved from the powerful southpaw.
Chisora has been getting beaten repeatedly in the last four years, losing to these fighters:
– Tyson Fury
– Joseph Parker x 2
– Oleksandr Usyk
Chisora has lost four out of his last six fights, with one of his wins against 40-year-old Kubrat Pulev being a highly questionable 12-round split decision in July 2022.
In Chisora’s last fight, he defeated 41-year-old Gerald Washington by a ten-round unanimous decision in August 2023. That was 11 months ago, and you got to wonder why it’s taken this long for Chisora to get back in the ring.
What’s interesting is how much money Chisora has made as a gatekeeper/journeyman-level fighter. According to the Sun, Chisora’s net worth is £12 million [$15 million]. That’s incredible for a fighter at this low level. If you’re a heavyweight, relocating to the UK would be a good idea because that’s where the money is at.
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