Chisora And Joyce Fought A Heavyweight War – Now It’s Time For Both To Retire

Saturday night’s all-British heavyweight showdown between Derek Chisora and Joe Joyce in London, England was everything we expected it to be.

It was fun, entertaining, and exciting. It was brutal, flawed, and tense. And, in all honesty, it should be the last time either fighter laces up a pair of gloves.

For Chisora, it should provide a fitting ending to what has ultimately been a fine career. Of course, he never won a world title, but he was never a world champion-level boxer.

At times he wasn’t the best professional or role model to kids, but he has given much of his life to boxing and played his part in several massive events; he never ducked a challenge and for that, he always retained the support of the British boxing public.

Chisora rode plenty of big shots from Joyce but managed to roll back the years to secure a well-deserved victory on points having floored his opponent twice late in the fight. Taken in a vacuum, there was enough in the Londoner’s performance to suggest there is a bit more in the tank to continue and collect a few more paydays.

Chisora Has Taken A Lot Of Punishment

Except boxing and life do not exist in vacuums, and the reality is that Chisora is 40 years old, has contested 48 fights over a grueling 19-year career, and has absorbed a significant amount of punishment, and in particular, many repetitive blows to the head.

The British fighter has always been fearless, and his record shows a warrior who took on all-comers. He’s fought Tyson Fury three times at various stages of the Gypsy King’s career; he took on world champion Vitaly Klitschko and gave a good account of himself; and he’s fought a succession of top-level fighters including David Haye, Joseph Parker (twice), Dillian Whyte (twice), and reigning unified world champion Oleksandr Usyk during the Ukrainian’s early move to heavyweight.

All of that deserves immense credit, but it has unquestionably taken its toll. Chisora has been knocked out four times, while his four bouts against Parker and Whyte were demonstrations of the thrilling brutality of boxing.

Concerns have been raised publicly in recent years about Chisora’s health and whether he was suffering from the early stages of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). There were times in the build-up to fights when his behavior became increasingly erratic and his speech became audibly more slurred.

However, in a sport where the athletes are essentially independent contractors, there is no one to save Chisora from himself; so long as he wants to continue fighting, there will be a promoter and sanctioning body willing to indulge his desire.

Chisora Wants Two More Fights

It’s not like soccer or basketball, where players are employees of teams and once their contracts run out, they are no longer able to compete. Plus, soccer and basketball players are not regularly punched in the head by giant, powerful men.

Unfortunately, it seems as though Chisora has no plans to finish just yet. “It’s not my last fight – I’ve got two more,” he said. “It’s my last fight in the O2 Arena. I’ll go to Manchester in December.”

As a married man with two children, it’s understandable that Chisora wants to secure his family’s future, yet, without sounding too dramatic, a long future with Chisora as a functioning part of it will only get shorter if he continues to fight on.

As for Joyce, it’s difficult to see where he goes from here while maintaining his professional integrity. A fighter who just over a year ago resembled a wrecking ball smashing his way through the heavyweight division, Joyce has now lost three of his last four fights, including two savage knockouts by Zhilei Zhang last year. His one victory in that time was a labored win over British journeyman Kash Ali. The ‘Juggernaut’ has been replaced by something a lot more fragile.

In the lead-up to his bout with Chisora, the former Olympic silver medallist spoke with conviction about his ambitions to still become a heavyweight world champion. Remember, this was a fighter who broke down Daniel Dubois, who now holds the IBF’s world title, and he knocked Parker clean out after 11 rounds of relentless punishment.

World Title Dreams Dashed For Joyce

Chisora was meant to be the ideal opponent against whom Joyce could make a statement that that fighter is still within him; that maybe, just maybe, world titles were not completely off the table.

And then Saturday happened. Joyce, it must be said, had Chisora in all kinds of trouble in various parts of the fight, and there was still plenty of power and spite in his punches. But there’s no escaping the fact that he looked the shadow of his former self.

Where at one time Joyce would walk through punches and back up his opponent, those punches are now making an impact, and he never looked in control of the fight.

As it stands, Joyce has two realistic options now. He can either continue and become a gateway fighter, providing a test and big name for rising contenders, or he can call it a day. At 38 years old, it’s fair to say his best years as a fighter are behind him, and for a boxer who has made an enormous impact on the sport, he doesn’t really have anything left to prove.

His professional career may ultimately fall short of the ultimate dream of winning a world title, but his influence on British amateur boxing has been immeasurable. For Joyce’s sake, hopefully he feels it’s time to hang up the gloves.