FINCHLEY heavyweight Dereck Chisora will fight Kubrat Pulev, a fellow former world title challenger, rather than rising British star Anthony Joshua for the European heavyweight title.
“That’s what I asked for,” Dereck told Boxing News. “In the last year I boxed five fights, easy fights for me. I need someone to establish myself back again on the heavyweight scene and I think this guy will be good. A great opponent, it’ll be a great fight for both parties basically.”
There is no date confirmed as yet, though Berlin, Germany is a likely location. “I’m very keen to win it back so I can get back in the rankings so I can be back in the mix with everyone,” he said.
Given the thriving British heavyweight scene, Dereck notes, “Sometimes you don’t have to fight for a world title to make money. There’s so many domestic fights, which I want to do again when I win this fight. I want to come back, head home and all the fights I lost, I want to win those again.”
Of course there is Tyson Fury, the new world champion, who holds two wins over Chisora but David Haye is also a prime target. “I lost my concentration and that was it. You lose concentration, you get knocked out and that’s what happened to me,” Dereck said. “It’s great for boxing, him coming back. Most fighters say they’re retired but they’ll come back. Carl Froch retired but he’ll come back, he’ll fight again.”
Similarly he expects David Price to return to the fray. “British boxing is buzzing, we’ve got the number one big man, that’s Tyson Fury, you’ve got myself, Anthony [Joshua], you’ve got David Price, you’ve got David Haye, you’ve got Dillian Whyte. It’s amazing. You can’t go wrong in Great Britain. It’s going beautiful right now,” Dereck said.
Chisora’s representatives were in talks to fight Anthony Joshua on April 9, another big British fight. “That fight will happen but you know what, it’ll happen on my terms, not on their terms,” he said. “Why am I fighting Anthony Joshua? Because he boxed Dillian Whyte? That means he’s on the same level as me? He’s got much to learn to be honest with you. He has to learn the trade of boxing. He’s doing well for himself but it has to be great for myself and for him. He wanted the fight and I didn’t want the fight [on April 9].
“That fight is always going to be there.”
Both Chisora and Joshua actually come from the same amateur boxing club, Finchley ABC. “When I left, he was arriving basically,” Dereck said. They may be London heavyweights but there is no personal animosity between them. “We went to the same boxing gym, my mum and his mum live round the corner from each other. It’s great. He’s like one of my neighbourhood brothers.”
