Derek Chisora

Dereck Chisora
Chisora (right) with Alex Reid
Born	(1983-12-29) 29 December 1983 Harare, Zimbabwe
Other names	Del Boy
Statistics
Weight(s)	Heavyweight
Height	6 ft 1.5 in (1.87 m)
Reach	74 in (188 cm)
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	28
Wins	23
Wins by KO	15
Losses	5

Dereck Chisora (born 29 December 1983) is a British professional boxer. He is a former British, Commonwealth and European heavyweight champion, and has challenged for the world heavyweight title.

Early life

Chisora was born in Mbare, a suburb of the Zimbabwean capital Harare. As a teenager he attended Churchill Boys High School. Chisora and his family moved to the United Kingdom in 1999 and lived in Finchley, London.

Boxing career

Chisora turned professional on 17 February 2007, scoring a second round TKO against István Kecskés. After winning three more fights (all by decision), he came up against the toughest test of his career against fellow rising British heavyweight prospect, Sam Sexton. Chisora won the fight by stopping Sexton in the final 30 seconds of the final round. He moved on from the win over Sexton by beating Shawn Mclean, an American, at the Grosvenor House hotel in Mayfair, and then stopped the experienced Lee Swaby in 3 rounds at the York Hall. Chisora finished the year with a December victory over Neil Simpson at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre in London's Docklands leaving him with an 8–0 record at the end of his second year as a professional.

Chisora was suspended for four months for biting Paul Butlin during the fifth round of their 22 May 2009 contest at the York Hall in Bethnal Green. The incident was missed by the referee but TV replays proved conclusive and as a result Chisora missed out on his fight for a British title against Danny Williams. He was fined £2,500.

Chisora went on to defeat Zurab Noniashvili on 9 October, winning by TKO in three rounds at York Hall. On 20 January 2010, it was announced that he would get a second chance to face Danny Williams on 13 February 2010 after Sam Sexton was forced to withdraw injured from his match with Williams. Chisora welcomed the chance, saying, "It was my own fault the fight with Williams didn't go ahead, and I've been kicking myself ever since." Williams pulled out of the bout, however, and Chisora instead fought Carl Baker in an eliminator with the winner to face Williams. Chisora defeated Baker in the second round. On 15 May 2010 Chisora fought Williams for the British heavyweight title, which he won after stopping Williams in the second round.

Chisora defeated a challenge from Sam Sexton by knockout in the ninth round on 18 September 2010. Chisora was scheduled to face the IBF, IBO, WBO and Ring Magazine heavyweight champion, Wladimir Klitschko on 11 December 2010, but Klitschko pulled out of the fight three days prior with a torn abdominal muscle. The fight was later rescheduled for 30 April 2011, but this was later cancelled so Klitschko could fight David Haye on 2 July. On 23 July 2011, he fought Tyson Fury, who won the fight by 5 rounds on 2 judges' cards, and 7 rounds on the third judge's card. On 3 December, Chisora faced undefeated Robert Helenius in Helsinki, Finland for vacant EBU heavyweight title. Helenius won by split decision. The decision was highly debated as most pundits and onlookers thought Chisora had done enough to get the decision. The Ring considered the outcome of the match "a gift", dropping Helenius' ranking from fifth to sixth challenger. Chisora complained afterwards demanding a rematch on a neutral territory.

Sources in Germany reported that he was likely to fight Ukrainian WBC Heavyweight Champion Vitali Klitschko on 18 February 2012 at Munich's Olympiahalle. Later, on 12 December 2011, it was confirmed that Klitshko would be Chisora's next opponent. Chisora slapped Klitshko at the weigh in for the heavyweight title fight and was widely criticised. Chisora is quoted as saying after the slap "I ain't come here to play games I come here to fight."

On 18 February, Chisora and Klitschko fought in Germany for the WBC Heavyweight Championship. After a close first round, Klitschko started to land his right hand in round two and continued to land clean power shots from a distance as the bout progressed. Chisora showed a good chin, and did the majority of his work to the body. The scores were 118–110, 118–110 and 119–111, giving a unanimous decision of victory to Klitschko. During a post-fight press conference following his loss to Klitschko, Chisora was involved in a confrontation with David Haye. Haye initially responded to a statement by Klitschko's manager Bernd Boente that no more British boxers would be given the right to challenge the Klitschkos. Chisora challenged Haye to a fight and taunted Haye over the toe injury he had suffered prior to his loss to Wladimir Klitschko, to which Haye responded that Chisora had lost his three previous fights. Chisora eventually left the stage to confront Haye, who met him with a right hook to the jaw, before both security and Chisora's entourage intervened to try and separate the two. The fight continued, and at one point Haye swung a camera tripod in Chisora's direction. The two were eventually pulled apart. During the confrontation, Chisora claimed he was glassed by Haye and was filmed saying he would shoot Haye and telling Haye's trainer, Adam Booth, that he would face Haye in the ring or hunt him down. The next morning, Chisora was arrested by German police but was later released without charge after questioning.

On 14 March 2012, the British Boxing Board of Control withdrew Chisora's boxing licence due to his behaviour prior to and after his bout with Klitschko. The World Boxing Council has issued an indefinite suspension against Chisora fighting again for a WBC title, while demanding he take anger management medical treatment after which his suspension will be reconsidered. A year later, on 12 March 2013, the British Boxing Board of Control re-issued Chisora his license to box.

Chisora apparently has been working to change his out of ring image, no longer disrespecting opponents before fights and in press conferences. Chisora said, “If you look at fights from the golden era there wasn’t the same level of disrespect that you get now. There was no swearing on live television and things like that. Actually there were champions who used to shake hands and hang out but, when it came to fight time, you got a fight." Regarding the fight buildup, he also said, “We've decided to promote this fight a different way. We want the public to tune in to see us perform in the ring and not because we've been arguing. That’s the route we're taking now, we want to give boxing a better image.”

Personal life

In November 2010, Chisora was found guilty of assaulting his then-girlfriend after finding text messages from another man on her phone. He narrowly escaped being sent to jail, and was given a 12-week prison sentence suspended for two years. He was ordered to pay £1,500 in compensation and £500 costs and complete 150 hours community work. The court was told that the fighter also had previous convictions for public order offences, assaulting a police officer and possession of an offensive weapon.

Professional Titles

• British Heavyweight Title
• Commonwealth Heavyweight Title
• WBO International Heavyweight Title
• WBA International Heavyweight Title
• EBU European Heavyweight Title

External links

• Official website
• Derek Chisora on X
• Boxing record for Derek Chisora from BoxRec (registration required)