Dereck Chisora believes ripping the European Heavyweight title from Agit Kabayel on Saturday night will catapult him back into the World title mix as they clash in Monte-Carlo, live on Sky Sports.
‘Del Boy’ can become a two-time Euro king by taking the strap from the unbeaten German in his first defence, and the Londoner feels that will land him the mega-fights he wants – starting with a rematch with capital rival Dillian Whyte following their epic battle in December.
“I need to get this fight done and look good,” said Chisora. I haven’t had a big fight since the Whyte fight and I’ve been pushing for that rematch but it’s not happened and not looking likely any time soon.
“This came up and I think that it was meant to be for Dillian but he was too scared to fight this boy, so I took it.”
Whyte defeated Robert Helenius in Cardiff last weekend in an eliminator for the WBC title held by brash American Deontay Wilder, who defends his crown against Bermane Stiverne in Brooklyn this Saturday.
Chisora is handily ranked in the top ten in the WBC ratings and could be looking at a second World title shot in 2018 and would welcome all-comers in the biggest fights he can land.
“Dillian won at the weekend, I’m going to win, so let’s do it, there’s nothing stopping us,” said Chisora. “But you never know what is going to get in the way, this is boxing.
“I want to fight for a World title too. We don’t know why Joseph Parker is holding a World title. How is Wilder still a World champion? Anthony Joshua is doing well, he fights twice a year and puts on a great show. The other two guys are just lucky. They were there at the right time.
“Parker boxed for a World title without TV – that’s embarrassing and they didn’t sell any tickets. That tells you everything.
“My plans with Eddie include fighting in America, keeping fit and training hard and making the fights that I want to happen. Wilder fights Stiverne, AJ and Dillian have just boxed, Jarrell Miller fights next weekend – the Heavyweight game is bubbling up right now, it’s buzzing.
“It’s been a great year for boxing in Britain, and I think 2018 can be even better.”
Chisora and Kabayel clash on a stacked bill in Monte-Carlo topped by a pair of World title battles with Russian destroyer Dmitry Bivol making the first defence of his WBA Light-Heavyweight strap against Australian Trent Broadhurst while Jamie McDonnell and Liborio Solis return to Monte-Carlo for a rematch for McDonnell’s WBA Bantamweight crown and Scott Quigg and Oleg Yefimovych clash in an eliminator for the WBA World Featherweight title.
