Saturday night at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium sees the WBC heavyweight title on the line, but it’s a pretty unwanted trilogy as Tyson Fury defends against Derek Chisora.
BT Sport Box Office televise Fury vs Chisora 3, live in the UK, whilst ESPN+ airs the fight in the USA.
The two have met twice before, and, unlike most trilogies, it has been pretty routine on the two previous occasions, with Fury (32-0-1, 23 KOs) winning a decision to take Chisora’s British title in July 2011, and then forcing his rival to retire after ten, one-sided rounds of the rematch in November 2014.
Since that clash, ‘The Gypsy King’ has gone on to become world champion twice, first by defeating Wladimir Klitschko in 2015, and then memorably stopping Deontay Wilder to win the WBC crown in a rematch in 2020.
The 34-year-old was last out in April, facing his mandatory challenger, Dillian Whyte at Wembley Stadium, and closed the show in the sixth.
The Manchester man announced his retirement after defeating Whyte, but since reversed that decision and saw a mooted clash with long-time rival Anthony Joshua fall through, before Chisora (33-12, 23 KOs) stepped in.
‘War’ has lingered around the heavyweight scene for some time, but has usually gained more credit for his defeats than his wins.
The 38-year-old lost to Oleksandr Usyk on the cards in October 2020, then a pair of decisions to Joseph Parker in 2021, but managed to win his most recent outing, a split decision triumph over former world title challenger, Kubrat Pulev in July.
Fury will be hopeful of facing WBA ‘super’, WBO and IBF champion, Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight crown with victory on Saturday.
Prediction: This is a strange, hand-picked option for Fury, and an unnecessary third fight between the two. I think Chisora will be spirited as ever, but his will should be ground down after little success, and he could withdraw in the later rounds.
Dubois defends WBA title against Lerena
Another heavyweight title match heads the undercard.
Daniel Dubois makes the first defence of his WBA ‘regular’ belt, as he meets former IBO cruiserweight champion, Kevin Lerena.
Dubois (18-1, 17 KOs) has bounced back well since his stoppage defeat to Joe Joyce at the back end of 2020, and won the WBA strap with a fourth round knockout of Trevor Bryan in Miami in June.
Lerena (28-1, 14 KOs) only moved up to heavyweight in March this year, knocking out Bogdan Dinu in four, and the South African was last seen in September, taking a wide decision win against Mariusz Wach.
Prediction: Dubois is heavy handed early on, and much will depend on if Lerena can survive the early onslaught. Dubois should take the contest inside the distance, before halfway.
Mendy defends European title
Yvan Mendy (47-5-1, 22 KOs) defends his European lightweight title on the card, and it’s a good match-up between him and Ukraine’s Denys Berinchyk (16-0, 9 KOs).
🏆 European title on the line…
Yvan Mendy shows his skills 🥊
Watch live 👉 https://t.co/Xg5vTPTdHo#FuryChisora | Saturday | BT Sport Box Office pic.twitter.com/pG2q1EidT5
— Frank Warren (@FrankWarren) November 29, 2022
Mendy won the vacant title in his last fight, a points win over Gianluca Ceglia in April, and Berinchyk comes into the fight unbeaten in 16 professional contests.
Prediction: The tentative pick is for Mendy to win on the cards.
Remaining Undercard
Isaac Lowe (21-2-3, 6 KOs) is also returning from a heavy defeat, and the super featherweight should outscore Sandeep Singh Bhatti (8-4, 1 KO) over six rounds.
Karol Itauma (8-0, 6 KOs) takes part in a scheduled eight rounder for the first time, and he may need the distance to win in his light heavyweight contest against Vladimir Belujsky (12-5-1, 8 KOs).
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Royston Barney Smith (3-0, KO1) should come through his lightweight four rounder with Cruz Perez (3-3, 1 KO) on points.
Hosea Burton (27-3, 12 KOs) is on a gentle comeback after a crushing defeat to Dan Azeez in November last year, and is now at cruiserweight with an opponent to be formally confirmed.
