Promoter Frank Warren still believes it will be difficult for him to bounce back from tonight’s heavyweight bout between Joe Joyce and Derek Chisora. Warren points out that the age of 38-year-old Joyce (16-2, 15 KOs) and 40-year-old Chisora (34-13, 23 KOs) will prevent the loser from climbing back.
Joyce vs. Chisora headlines tonight on ESPN+ in a twelve-round fight at the O2 Arena in London. The way Chisora was talking when he was building, this may be the end of his career.
Age as a barrier to return
It is unlikely that the winner of tonight’s fight will get a chance to fight for a world title against Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury, or Anthony Joshua. The three are expected to continue fighting each other for the next few years. Chisora and Joyce will be very old when it opens.
Chisora hasn’t fought in a year, and he’s really rich, he’s made many millions during his 17-year career, and he doesn’t need to keep fighting, especially if he’s not being offered main event spots.
Joyce is in a different situation. He hasn’t got the money that Chisora has, he has to keep fighting to get big money.
“I think that the one who lost this fight has a long way to go if he comes back. The winner goes on. It’s an age thing,” said promoter Frank Warren on Title Sports Network, talking about today’s fight between Joe Joyce and Derek Chisora.
We don’t kid ourselves. The winner of the Joyce-Chisora fight is also going nowhere, and the best they can hope for is to continue to score high in London. It’s not like tonight’s winner will fight for the world title in 2025. That doesn’t happen.
“Derek is 40 years old. I said he should have retired a few years ago,” Warren continued. “That’s my opinion. You are out to prove me wrong. He may be right. We will find out. Joe was one of the most avoided heavyweights in the division.”
Chisora’s Diminishing Returns
Chisora would have retired had he not been given prime spots. That’s what keeps him going, the irony is that fans still want to watch him lose like clockwork. It’s not fun to watch Chisora fight these days because he can’t beat his opponents, and it’s not fun to watch him fight 40+ year olds like Gerald Washington and Kubrat Pulev.
“He got that great win over Joe Parker, who has rekindled his career, and unfortunately [Joyce] there were two losses to Zhang,” Warren said of Joyce. “One is injured, the second one was very insistent. So, he can’t slip again. He’s got a few miles on the clock as a fighter, but this is s*** or a mess for both of them,” Warren said of Joyce and Chisora.
Joyce’s fight against Joseph Parker in 2022 took him out a lot. His hand speed has slowed down, and now he is like a punching bag. That is why he was dismissed twice by Zhilei Zhang and struggled against British goalkeeper Kash Ali.
“He had less fights, Joe, but he might have hit the same number because he’s easy to hit,” said journalist Jeff Powell while talking to Pro Boxing fans about Joyce having almost the same distance as Chisora.
Joyce took a lot of punishment in his fights with Parker, Zhang, Daniel Dubois, and Bryant Jennings in the pro ranks. As a novice, Joyce was in several fights and was beaten by Oleksandr Usyk in their five-round contest at the World Series of Boxing.
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