We need to talk about Derrick Chisora

Chisora is the man. True warrior.

 

He ain't beating Usyk, forget about it. And he's also tailor-made for Dubois to get a highlight-reel KO.

Regarding his succes, It's more to do with Chisora himself than the era(I should say eras) he's been fighting in. He just won't age. I remember thinking that he was done after the Fury rematch (which was over a decade ago), but he keeps finding a way back. He's a big, powerful HW and with his sky-high confidence, desire to stay active and attitude to always give his %110, is enough to remain relevant.

 

you could certainly manufacture a circumstance under which Chisora could win a belt. If the belt holder doesn’t do well with pressure, or if the belt holder has a weak chin. There are plenty of past alphabet champs he could probably have taken.

at the moment though, he’d have to get through Usyk or Dubois. He actually did give Usyk a rough night when they fought, but I think Usyk has grown since then. And Dubois hits hard and Chisora is hittable, so I can’t see that one going well.

 

True that. A battering ram.

 

Thing is that he gained strength as he got older, if he can knock Joyce down he can knock other fighters out.

 

Chisora getting a title shot/being a current contender is more to do with luck, his propensity to fight anyone and the current HW environment than it being a weak era.

Its only because other contenders and prospects have been taking risky fights and losing, thanks to Saudi money, that Chisora has come out on top. It's consolidated the top contenders and left the others sitting on losses they wouldn't normally have.

Without Saudi money guys like Bakole, Anderson, Zhang etc would very likely be taking less risks and waiting for title shots.

 

Everyone has a chance, even if it's through injury. Look at Glazkov who tore his knee and that made someone a champion.
Chisora has also been roiding heavily for a while and suddenly developed power after not being able to KD/KO people for a long time in the early days. So he also has chance to land a haymaker and do something. That's why Takam was so surprised when he got KO'd with one hit because Chisora never did that.

Usyk is dumb to fight anyone who is not considered an excellent opponent because if he loses he throws it all away, even if he's old. If he fought Chisora he could have a bad night, get a cut, eat a bomb etc. and lose and it would be a disaster.

 

Chisora has made way more money than Bakole, Anderson, or Zhang, and he's done it the hard way without Saudi money. He's got a much bigger following than they do as well.

Being a warrior does not work out badly for fighters, yet it seems like every time we get a guy who proves it, the others still play it safe. Holyfield did the same thing as Chisora. Fought everyone, made a ton of money in the process, never played it safe. Lost plenty of big fights, never stopped him from sticking at it. Only age retired him.

 

Fans today forget what a hot, rising contender Chisora was back in the day. He was being moved quickly. He had charisma. He had balls.

People forget Chisora was the favorite to beat Tyson Fury in their first fight, which Chisora lost.

After Chisora's loss, Helenius had arguably become the hottest prospect at the time (with wins over former champs) when he and Chisora met.

Though Helenius was injured and won a controversial decision, Chisora was such a popular contender with major backing behind him that he got an immediate title shot with Vitali (even with two losses in 17 fights).

So, in a way, Chisora finding his way back to being in position for a title shot now is no different than a lot of 80s beltholders, who had a belt for a fight or two, having a resurgence in the 90s. Chisora lost to a lot of people, but a lot of those 80s heavyweights lost to a lot of people, too.

People back then thought he'd be a lot better than he ended up being. Much better, in fact.

But he still managed to be able to hang with most fighters, if only for a while.

And the only thing it says about THIS ERA (going back to the OP question), is that in this era a #9 contender and a #11 or #12 contender can fight, and the winner can leapfrog over everyone and become a mandatory, if the sanctioning body is so desperate to try to show they have some authority.

It says more about the incompetence and tiny balls of the organization than it does the fighters of this era.