Derek Chisora and Kubrat Pulev meet this Saturday in a heavyweight rematch at the O2 Arena in London. Luke G. Williams preview the fight and ask if it’s time for Del Boy to be saved from his own warrior instincts…
When should the fighter be protected from them?
When the medical scan or the British Council said so? When they reach a certain age, or have a certain number of pro matches or rounds under their belt?
Or maybe when it becomes clear that they will – to be honest – probably never will ever retire from boxing, it is their addiction to the adrenaline rush born of hitting and being hit.
Annoying but unanswerable questions hang – hauntingly – in this Saturday’s heavyweight showdown between Derek Chisora and Kubrat Pulevwhich refers to a medium to poor Matchroom card at the O2 Arena in London.
Now, 38 years old, Chisora continues to fight with great determination, and a recklessness for her own health and future well-being. All the danger signals were in his pre-battle rhetoric.
Chisora said to Five Live Boxing Podcasts this week:
“I didn’t listen to anyone.”
“I am my own boss, I decide for myself, I do what I want. I do what makes me fundamentally happy. Fighting keeps me happy. I like to do it, win or lose.”
With all that we’ve learned – and are still learning about CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy), many observers – myself included – view Chisora’s continued emergence as a criterion. big event title against high-quality and hard-hitting heavyweights as an ethical conundrum – a fighting Chisora is the kind of contest where you want to avert your eyes for fear of what might happen now or future-proof irreparable damage was done to the old warrior’s brain.
Sure, it might not be the ‘doing’ in the battle preview to write about CTE or mention the possibility of brain damage, but in Chisora’s case, at least to raise the issues. this subject, because he already has. an unusually punishing career.
During an astonishing 44 professional matches (including 32 wins, 12 losses), the Zimbabwean-born track and field athlete has never overcome a challenge and has faced someone from the world. post-millennium heavyweights, including Tyson Fury (twice), Joseph Parker (twice), Oleksandr UsykDillian Whyte (twice), David Haye, Vitali Klitschko and Robert Helenius, suffered a series of startling punishments to his head and body along the way.
It’s a truly amazing CV, but it should also be emphasized that in the ten competitions with the aforementioned seven fighters and was successful, Chisora failed to score a single victory (despite having there were a number of close calls along the way, with the majority of observers feeling he deserved the nod against Helenius while a lot of respected voices also thought he had headed the battle. his first fight with Whyte).
None of this is supposed to belittle Chisora’s career or achievements, just to emphasize the fact that since turning pro in 2007 he has proven himself to be a top fighter. real world class.
Del Boy’s best wins are probably his wins over Carlos Takam, David Price, Artur Szpilka and Kevin Johnson. If he beat Pulev – a tough and well-educated Bulgarian player whose only loss of his career was in world titles to Wladimir Klitschko and Anthony Joshua – it would probably be a good win. most in Chisora’s career.
The two men – of course – had met before, the Bulgarian took a well-deserved but well-deserved victory in May 2016. On that night in Hamburg, Pulev’s use of the collision technique and Chisora’s ability to tie up proved decisive.
At 41, the Bulgarian is the older of the two, but hasn’t accumulated as many miles on the boxing watch as Chisora.
Truth be told, Pulev’s 29-2 (14 KOs) career often promised more than it delivered. A skilled technician with both hands and an above-average tolerance for punishment, Pulev – like Chisora - lacks a definite victory over a top enemy, and on two occasions he steps up to second place. World Enemy – against Wlad and AJ – he was found to be very wanted. However, Pulev’s amateur pedigree as a World Championship bronze medalist and European Championship gold medalist demands respect.
Chisora is most likely going to lose on Saturday, because that’s what he usually does against top heavyweights. It will likely be a loss, and it will most likely be controversial. It’s also something Chisora is expected to dedicate herself to – of course he will, because he’s a fighter through and through, one who lives to fight under bright white lights.
Crowds will embrace him, countless chants of ‘Oh Derek Chisora’ will be heard throughout O2 and the man himself will return home smiling, delighted to hear the screams of the crowd once again. frozen and felt the flesh on his face and that of Pulev.
Win or lose, Chisora is sure to fight, forever chasing after the end of the rainbow, one last payday, and one last buzz. Eddie Hearn will continue to promote and facilitate him, and the fans will continue to love him.
In addition, it will depend on fate and nerves.
I hope that one day in the future, the boxing community will not be complicit in Chisora’s submission – mentally or physically – to the enormous damage he has suffered in throughout his career.
But somehow, I’m afraid that’s how the story ends.
