NEWS: FRANK WARREN DEFENDS TYSON FURY-DEREK CHISORA MISMATCH
By: Jay Calderon
Last Saturday, Tyson Fury defended his portion of the Heavyweight title against foe-turned-friend Derek Chisora in what can only be described as a highly-lopsided affair.
Truthfully, most expected such a contest heading into the fight, meaning, they didn't expect much of a "contest" at all. Prior to the bout, Fury was the overwhelming favorite at -2500 with Chisora the sizeable underdog at +1000. For any fight, especially one headlining a pay-per-view broadcasting live out of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, those are remarkably wide odds.
From Fury's perspective, it was about the best he could do considering the circumstances. Fury wanted to fight once more in 2022, and Heavyweight isn't a division with many bankable options for Tyson. Fury has already faced off with former titlist Deontay Wilder three times, failed to make a fight with big British names like former titlist Anthony Joshua, and world champion Oleksandr Usyk and his team wanted more time to rest and prepare for any unification bout.
So, as it turns out, the next best option comes in the form of a previous opponent in Chisora. However, many fans and media members were quick to characterize the encounter as a grave mismatch. And after almost ten rounds of a one-sided beat down in the favor of Fury, those fans and media members were proven correct.
However, Frank Warren, the promoter that helped stage the affair, believes Chisora gave a good account of himself, and perhaps even did better than former Fury opponent Dillian Whyte, whom Tyson stopped in fewer rounds in April of this year.
"Even though Tyson was a convincing winner, I strongly believe it would have been a similar outcome had Joshua stepped up to the plate," Warren wrote in his weekly column. "Derek did better in there than Dillian Whyte did in April and clearly takes a better shot than Deontay Wilder.
Regardless of the fight itself or the criticism it generated, Warren celebrated the event and was glad it can lead to bigger and better evenings in 2023.
"The main thing is that Tyson got through without any mishaps and now a massive 2023 is in store for the heavyweight division. We now need to tie up the loose ends of the Usyk fight and then, all things being well, Joe Joyce will come into play," Warren expressed.
In truth, the mismatch didn't completely bother me the way it did some, as I looked at it for exactly what it was: a tune-up. My primary issue was calling it a pay-per-view in the United Kingdom. Regardless, no one is forced to pay, and I'm sure many didn't.
Of course, all can be forgiven if we see Fury take on the likes of Joshua, Usyk, and Joyce in the coming calendar year. The best way to make fans get over a bad fight is by giving them a good one. And to varying degrees, all of those fights certainly qualify as good.
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