Can we just take a moment to appreciate the résumé the Zimbabwean-Brit tank has put together? With a foundation of not even two dozen amateur fights, the man has taken on a veritable who's-who in the HW division over the last two decades. I can't think of anybody in the weight class with as much depth of quality in opponents faced. Sure, he never captured a world title belt - and he may well never. He is 40 years old with a lot of miles on the odometer already. He never has been the fastest in the game, nor the most powerful, nor the craftiest - nor ever really been #1 in any one category or attribute. But he is all-around rock-solid, and has been so with a remarkable degree of longevity for being a mere 6'2" and not exactly defensively slick. The absolute best that he faces do usually defeat him - the pair of Ukrainian greats Usyk and Vitali K., his thrice-over chief domestic foil Tyson Fury, and the next tier of top contenders in Parker/Whyte/Pulev/Kabayel/Haye. Really his only "embarrassing" loss is to a prime Helenius, by SD, which isn't that bad all things considered. Then in the W column there's a whole gradient of C+ to A- talent - from hardnosed premium UK journeymen like Tony Booth. Danny Peret and Lee Swaby to highly ranked international competition like Joyce, Pála, Pulev and Szpilka. Plus the whole gamut in between - including a victory Kingpin Johnson before the value in that had totally depreciated, and faded but still game trial horses like Takam or Washington. I picked him to beat Joyce in 2019. Gun to my head, if you asked me last week if he could spring that upset in 2024...my honest answer would have been no. But upon reading that he did, an unsurprised smile crossed my face. Because he's the kind of reliable SOB who'll keep doing his best to punish everyone that bets against him until the wheels fall off.
He beat Helenius. It was a horrible, horrible robbery that fight when they were trying to build up Helenius as more than he would prove to be. It was Chisora who exposed him, not a blemish on Chisora's record.
Chisora is probably the best HW gatekeeper. Always used to say that If you can beat him - you are a true top5-top10.
Can't overstate how much respect I have for being that age, with over a dozen losses, and long since written off from the championship picture - and to go in and drop & beat someone as dangerous as JJJ instead of bringing a loser's mentality and just coasting for the payday.
There has never been anything quite like him in the sport. At 40 years old with 48 fights, he is getting some of the best wins of his career. Should also have wins over Helenius and Parker and maybe Whyte, in addition to what he has accomplished. And when he was coming up the ladder, I never liked him. I am a pretty good judge of the heavies, but I was dead wrong about Del Boy. He's better than a lot of the guys who have held ABC belts.
Chisoras win over Joyce is his crowning achievement. It's the fight that embodies his career the most It was like his version of winning the undisputed title
That Takam fight still stings. Two similarly tough gatekeepers with impressive longevity. There's zero market for it, but a rematch would be pretty cool.
I want to see a rematch. Takam was beating Chisora before the stoppage. Takam is like a French Chisora.
I forgot about the first Parker fight. He should have got the win there although it wasnt as bad as the Helenius reobbery.
It was the way he burst onto the domestic scene against Baker, Williams and Sexton. That Chisora was 50/50 with Fury, but he inexplicably got fat. That's the only embarrassing loss for me, the first one against Fury. The other losses were either to world level people (Vitali, Haye, Usyk, Parker 2, Whyte 2, Kabayel, Fury 2/3) or were disputed and he could have received the nod under different judges (Helenius, Whyte, Pulev, Parker)
Yes, Del Boy is unique in a sense that he should have been totally shot long time ago considering all the wars/fights/punishment he took against top opponents. But he still somehow remains pretty good even now, at 40 y.o. and such a tough career getting some good wins.
If you'd asked me after Vitali how long this guy's chin was going to hold up, I wouldn't say into his forties. After Haye, I figured it was pretty well cracked. That was over a decade ago. I stopped scoring Helenius/Chisora when I had nine rounds to Chisora. That was just disgusting. It was an embarrassment, just not for Del.
Chisora has had a hell of a career that's for sure. If you told me after he was stopped by Whyte and then lost to Uysk he'd still be fighting at the top level and even winning some fights at 40 I wouldn't believe you. He's clearly way past his prime, but all those fights against the top fighters of two eras has given him experience and knowledge and he's using that to his advantage over his opponents. The stoppage of Takam for example and that knock down over Joyce, he knows when he has to step off the gas and then plays possum looking to counter and his opponents also know this which makes them hesitate and so Chisora can trick opponents into not attacking when he is hurt. He's made millions by simply fighting the best and always giving it his all in the ring and the fans have appreciated that and rewarded him for his fearlessness and commitment to giving us good fights.