_1619678457.jpg)
Derek Chisora has no plans of throwing in the towel, no matter how many headlines crop up suggesting that he do so.
The grizzled British heavyweight recently put up a spirited but ultimately losing effort in a rematch against former champion Joseph Parker at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. Parker (30-2, 21 KOs) won on all three judges’ scorecards, albeit on slimmer margins than what most observers had. Parker, for the most part, controlled the bout and dropped Chisora three times. At several points in the fight, it looked as though Chisora was one salvo away from being stopped, but not only did the veteran hang on, he managed to produce some memorable offensive spurts that had the crowd roaring with glee.
After the fight, many in the media tipped their cap to Chisora, while insisting that now, citing health concerns, was the appropriate time for the 38-year-old to call it a career.
Chisora, however, had a simple message for such well-wishers.
“This is what I’m going to say to all those people writing all that sh!t: Go f— yourselves,” Chisora (32-12, 23 KOs) said in an interview with IFL TV. “Tell me to retire? Nah. If you don’t want to watch me. Don’t. I don’t care. I know those who love me will come and watch. For those who want to feel sorry for me, don’t feel sorry for me. Be happy for me. I’m living my best life right now. Do not feel sorry for me.”
Chisora has lost his last three fights, twice to Parker and the other to Oleksandr Usyk. He is 5-5 in his last 10 bouts
“So when I announce my next fight, tell them not to buy tickets…whoever said that, don’t watch me fight next time,” Chisora said. “That is it! Don’t bother tuning it or anything like that. Go away. We don’t need your negative vibes here, mate.”
“That’s the problem with us in Britain,” Chisora continued. “So in the Premier League, how many teams have we got? 20. And three of them are probably the best teams out there. So the rest shouldn’t bother playing for it, because they aren’t going to win are they? Blackburn, Tottenham, Everton…the rest of the football teams shouldn’t play for the Premier League anymore because they aren’t going to win it, that’s it.”
Yet the punishment that Chisora has taken of the years cannot be denied. Chisora insisted that he would not be fighting in his 40s but refused to give himself a firm cutoff date.
“I’m not fighting into my 40s,” Chisora said. “I’m still good in my 30s so I’ll do it. Everyone wants to know, when is he going to stop? I don’t know.”