SAYING Dereck Chisora’s camp or state of mind is in disarray is a bit like saying Anthony Joshua’s rise to heavyweight prominence was well-handled and smooth.
Not only does it come with the territory, it’s by now a given.
So when David Higgins, the manager of Joseph Parker, points out what he believes to be confusion and chaos in Chisora’s camp ahead of a December 7 fight between Parker and Chisora, he knows as well as anyone it probably means very little in the grand scheme of things.
Higgins told Sky Sports: “I’m assuming David Haye is the trainer because no-one knows.
“Their mental state is 10 times worse than mine, and that’s saying something.
“It’s plain sailing for Parker in Vegas, it’s utter disarray with Chisora in London.
“However, he remains dangerous. He’s been in disarray before and pulled a rabbit out of a hat, so we don’t underestimate Dereck Chisora or his camp at all. Not one bit.
“We take them very seriously. In fact, it’s a cracker of a fight. It might be one of the best heavyweight fights of the year at the O2 Arena. We’re serious.
“But Joseph at his best should beat Chisora.”
Chisora, unlike most, seems the type of character to thrive amid chaos and make the best of it. A smooth, stress-free preparation would go against his very nature, his very style. It would, one could argue, be a cause for concern.
If you thought the phoney war between Conor McGregor and Paulie Malignaggi died the night McGregor was taken to school by Floyd Mayweather in a Las Vegas farce two years ago, you were wrong.
Instead, it seems that for as long as both are alive and breathing and possess two arms and legs, McGregor and Malignaggi will be inextricably linked. Scrap that. It’s more accurate to say that for as long as there is attention to be grabbed and money to be made, McGregor and Malignaggi will be inextricably linked. The arms, legs and beating heart aspect is neither here nor there.
“The thing that bothers Conor about me more than anything is the fact I pulled his card before everybody else realised it,” Malignaggi told talkSPORT. “The whole having no guts and being a quitter. Nobody knew that and in the past few years all he’s done is prove me right. I think he knew subliminally that I was always right about him and I think he didn’t like it.
“I’d fight him winner takes all. I’ve said that for years. Whoever loses doesn’t get a penny. I’d be all for that. In the Octagon he beats me, come on. We can do it bare-knuckle; we can do it boxing.
“He’s a massive flop in general. He’s a better salesman than he is a fighter. Has he ever defended a title in the UFC?
“What has he done? He’s shot at 31 years old. At 31 years old I won my second world championship. You can’t tell me the guy’s shot at 31 years old. Come on.”
Because of the nature of today’s media, it’s hard to blame Malignaggi for bringing up the past and flogging what is unquestionably a dead horse (one put down, buried, dug up, killed again, buried, dug up, stuffed, sold in toy stores, taken home, ripped apart, put in the loft and thrown out all over again). But at some point he needs to swerve the question and remind interviewers he was somebody – a two-time world champion, no less – before he was dragged into the Conor McGregor pantomime and offered a walk-on part. It might not be the lucrative move, and it might see an end to the attention, but it would do the world of good for the ‘Magic Man’s integrity.
