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Tyson Fury defeated Dereck Chisora relatively easily the last time they fought.
The eventual heavyweight champion dominated Chisora for much of a rematch that was stopped by Chisora’s handlers following the 10th round in November 2014 at ExCeL London. Fury mostly controlled that bout with his jab and occasionally connected with right hands, but some fans in the sellout crowd of approximately 22,000 booed at times because their second bout lacked action.
Despite the lopsided odds on their third fight, Fury predicted the crowd in excess of 60,000 will leave Tottenham Hotspur Stadium satisfied Saturday night. Their third fight, the unbeaten WBC champion claimed, won’t at all resemble their rematch eight years ago.
“The one thing that I can guarantee with me and Chisora is we’re gonna give it everything we’ve got, and someone’s getting knocked out,” Fury told BoxingScene.com. “Whether it’s me or Dereck, we’ll find out on the 3rd. It’s only a two-horse race and anyone can win in this division, as we’ve seen time and time again. I think it’ll be a much different fight this time from last time because last time I fought him I was a slick boxer, moving all over the show, never really trying to get anybody out of there. Now I’m a head-hunter. I’m looking for the KO at all times and that will put me in a more dangerous position to be knocked out me self. So, this fight will be exciting and entertaining while it lasts, either way.”
The 34-year-old Fury has dismissed criticism for fighting Chisora a third time when he already beat his friend twice. The Manchester native first defeated the Zimbabwe-born, London-based Chisora by unanimous decision in a 12-rounder that occurred in July 2011 at Wembley Arena in London.
The 6-foot-1, 260¾-pound Chisora’s record (33-12, 23 KOs) pales in comparison to what the 6-foot-9, 268¾-pound Fury has accomplished in 33 professional fights (32-0-1, 23 KOs). The rugged Chisora, who will turn 39 on December 29, has lost seven times since Fury stopped him in their rematch and has been beaten by knockout or technical knockout by former WBA champ David Haye, longtime contender Dillian Whyte and Fury.
Fury still respects Chisora because he has fought many of the top heavyweights of this era and the ever-aggressive veteran always comes to fight.
“I think Dereck Chisora’s an all-around fighter,” Fury said. “He’s a top-10 fighter. He has been for the last 10 years. He’s took on all challenges and he’s pretty much similar to Dillian Whyte in the way of resumes and stuff. However, he has more of a work rate and because he’s smaller, he’s more awkward. He crouches as well, so he gives you a smaller and smaller target. He ducks down and comes over the top with big punches. And he moves his head quite good as well, so he’s always an awkward opponent for anybody, as we seen with Joseph Parker, [Oleksandr] Usyk and everybody else who fought the guy.”
Fury is nevertheless listed as at least a 20-1 favorite versus Chisora in a 12-round main event that’ll headline a BT Sport Box Office pay-per-view show in the United Kingdom and Ireland (6 p.m. GMT; £26.95). ESPN+ will stream Fury-Chisora III as the last of five fights in a show set to start at 1 p.m. ET.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.