DERECK CHISORA and Anthony Joshua are in talks for a European heavyweight title fight.
The two are London fighters, both in fact come from the same amateur gym. Chisora is due a shot at the now vacant European title and, given Wladimir Klitschko and Alexander Povetkin are otherwise engaged, Joshua is the most highly ranked available challenger. Anthony and Dereck may be strikingly different personalities but they are on a collision course.
“There’s been a few discussions about it,” Nisse Sauerland, Chisora’s promoter, told Boxing News.
Joshua already has April 9 booked at the O2 in London for his next fight and Sauerland notes, “It wouldn’t be too soon, it’s just a question of where everyone’s at on that fight. It’s an interesting fight of course. It’s a massive fight. It’s like an inevitable fight, whether it happens on April 9 or in a year’s time I think that fight will happen.”
While Joshua has other options, so too does Chisora. His promoter points out that Dereck doesn’t have to fight the Olympic, British and Commonwealth champion right now. “It’s good to have a few wins under his belt,” Nisse said, “and he seems to be really enjoying fighting again and now we’ve got quite a fair few options on the table, big options, the European title, there’s [IBF champion] Charles Martin in the States which is a big fight and I think we just need to plan our next move carefully.
“You have to be realistic, Dereck’s going to go over there and probably beat Charles Martin. I’m not saying Charles Martin is a bad fighter but he hasn’t reached his potential, he’s developing still and he’s got the predicament of being a world champion. It’s the same as Deontay Wilder who’s been learning on the job every fight, and he’s been developing, but that’s the problem for both of them, they’re both world champions and sooner or later they’re going to have to take a proper fight. Wilder’s up against [Alexander] Povetkin who for me is one of the top three heavyweights in the world. It’s like winning an Olympic gold medal, you’ve got a target on your back.”
