“If we didn’t go through with it, they’d strip him [Daniel Dubois],” said promoter Frank Warren to Secondsout when asked if he’ll go through with a fight between IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois and IBF-mandatory Derek Chisora following Peter Fury’s warnings that Chisora could get brain damage if he takes this fight.
“Everybody has got an opinion. I said Derek should retire two years ago, and he proved me wrong,” Warren continued.
Chisora proved him wrong, eh? These are Derek’s wins in the last two years:
– Otto Wallin
– Joe Joyce: 39
– Gerald Washington: 42
A Broken System?
What did those wins prove for Chisora? It demonstrates that Derek was skillfully maneuvered and that the IBF needs to change how they determine who fights in their title eliminators. There’s no way on Earth that Chisora’s fight against the recently knocked-out 34-year-old Otto Wallin should have been an IBF title eliminator. Don’t the IBF have standards?
Wallin was knocked out in five rounds by Anthony Joshua in 2023, and Chisora hasn’t beaten a semi-descent heavyweight since his eighth-round knockout win against Carlos Takam in 2018. At least that was a fringe-level heavyweight that Derek beat. But his wins since then have been against poor fighters, and his record going into his three-fight comeback against the tomato cans Washington, Joyce, and Wallin was a lowly 1-4. Chisora had lost to former WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in an undeserved title fight in 2022, Joseph Parker twice, and Oleksandr Usyk.
Medical vs. Reality
“If he’s [Chisora] licensed and goe through a strict list of tests through the Boxing Board of Control before they allow him to fight,” said Warren about Chisora. “That includes all sorts of tests on MRI scans and everything. He’ll go through all those tests, and they’ll determine whether he’s fit and able to box.”
Passing those tests still doesn’t mean that Chisora should be in the ring with the IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois. There are plenty of washed-up fighters that can pass medical tests, but they shouldn’t be anywhere near a dangerous fighter like Dubois.
Chisora looked like a punching bag in his last fight against Wallin, and the only reason he won is that this guy is dreadfully poor. Wallin is not a high-level heavyweight and arguably has no business being ranked in the top 15 by any of the four organizations. If the IBF had its act together, they wouldn’t have sanctioned the Chisora vs. Wallin fight as a world title eliminator.
Last Updated on 04/07/2025
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