Derek Chisora: I’m not losing any sleep over Joyce
Derek Chisora believes that Joe Joyce has always been too nice a guy for the hard, horrible world of professional boxing and is aiming to drag the 38-year-old to dark places when the heavyweight veterans meet at London’s O2 Area on Saturday night. For all the latest fight odds, visit our sportsbook.
“I’m not losing any sleep over him,” Chisora said when he sat across the table from Joyce for Queensberry’s Locked In show.
“Joe’s a nice guy – I don’t know why he’s in boxing”
“Joe’s a nice guy. I don’t know what he’s doing in boxing. He’s a nice guy. He’s a nice fellow. I don’t know what you’re doing in boxing. You haven’t got that streak in you. You haven’t got that evilness in you. You’re the type of guy who protects other people from the school bullies.”
Chisora, 34-13 (24 KOs), has been the bully for much of his career. From kissing Carl Baker and slapping Vitali Klitschko to brawling with David Haye and launching a table at Dillian Whyte, the impulsive former British, Commonwealth and European champion spent his prime as a walking tinder box, ready to explode at a moment’s notice. Chisora has mellowed in recent years but still carries that menacing air of unpredictability.
Joyce knows all about the shadowy depths boxing can plunge you into. He forced himself to the brink of a world title fight before being brutally beaten twice by China’s Zhilei Zhang last year. He looked a shadow of himself when returning to winning ways against Kash Ali in March and suddenly finds himself one defeat away from the end of a short but hard career. Chisora is playing mind games but if he is to score a memorable, late career victory he will need to reintroduce Joyce to his demons as quickly as possible on Saturday.
“You’re a nice man. You’re a cool guy. What are you doing in boxing?” Chisora said. “I don’t get it. You need to find something else because this is not your sport. You’re good at it but you need a bit of that spite.
“This will be an emotional night”
“You’re trying to be something you’re not. You’re not that person. I’ve always been that person from young. You know that. Everyday knows that.”
It is probably a little too late for Joyce to find an alternative sporting career – although he was a talented rugby player and diver – and the Londoner hasn’t done too badly in his chosen profession. But Chisora believes that he doesn’t have what it takes to re-establish himself as one of the division’s main men.
The 40-year-old Chisora readily admits that he is also coming to the end of his own controversial, exciting run in the sport. But he warned Joyce that he is planning a spectacular grand finale for his final appearance at the venue which has helped transform him into a fan favourite over the course of his 17-year stretch as a professional.
“This is my last fight at the O2. This is a very emotional night. You have to understand now, what type of man is he going to be fighting? He hasn’t gone to depths of what exactly is about to happen,” he said.
“You have to understand, this is my goodbye fight at the O2 Arena. I’m telling you man, it’s gonna be so delicious. It’s been unbelievable for me at the O2.”
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