Chisora vs Parker Preview and Odds
On October 26, 2019, two men once written off by the boxing world will meet with the winner consolidating his place as a top-ten heavyweight. In just over three weeks, London’s own Dereck Chisora (31-9, 22 KO) will face New Zealander Joseph Parker (26-2, 20 KO) at The O2 Arena.
Parker enters the fight as a 1/2 favorite, with Chisora a 6/4 underdog on his home turn.
When Chisora was stopped by Dillian Whyte in December of last year, his fourth defeat in his last eight fights, it appeared to signal the end of the Londoner’s 11-year professional career. The relentless style he has always employed was, quite predictably, not aging well. Then 34 years old, there would have been no shame in hanging up the gloves up after 12 storied years as a pro, which included two reigns as the WBA International heavyweight champion.
But someone forgot to tell Chisora that Father Time is undefeated.
Now 35, Chisora has eschewed retirement in favor of a resurgence. Just four months after being KOed by Whyte, he dominated German Senad Gashi over 10 rounds. In July, he followed up with an even more convincing second-round KO of Artur Spilka, a man who once challenged Deontay Wilder for the WBC heavyweight belt.
Given his high-paced, attacking style, it would be unreasonable to think Chisora is as dangerous at age 35 as he was a five or ten ago. But he showed against Szpilka that he can still bring the heat for rounds at a time.
That said, when he steps in the ring with Joseph Parker, he will be taking a big step in terms of competition compared to his last two dominant wins.
Still just 27, Parker’s career took its own disappointing detour last March when he lost a unanimous decision to Anthony Joshua, surrendering the WBO heavyweight title in the process. He was the first man to go the distance with Joshua, but the fight stats and lopsided scorecards (119-109, 118-110, 118-110) suggested that Parker wasn’t among the truly elite heavyweights.
His next fight largely confirmed it.
Parker was back in action four months later against Dillian Whyte. Again, he lost a unanimous decision, though this one was much tighter. After getting outpointed rather decisively in the early rounds, Parker fought valiantly until the final bell and even scored a 12th-round knockdown.
The back-to-back losses, the first setbacks of his career, put a crashing halt to Parker’s rising star. But like Chisora, he has responded with two resounding wins, albeit against lacking competition. In Dec. 2018, he KOed American Alexander Flores in the third round. After a six-month layoff, he scored at 10th-round TKO over Samoan Alex Leapai.
He will enter the Chisora bout as the odds-on favorite, and everything aside from location would seem to favor the New Zealander. He’s eight years younger; he’s two inches taller; and he has a five-centimeter reach advantage. On top of that, he’s no stranger to fighting in the British Isles, with three UK fights on his resume already.
This will indeed be an uphill battle for Chisora. He relies on this tenacity and raw power, but Parker has proven adept at going deep into fights and has never been stopped. Chisora has temporarily battled off Father Time, however, and there’s no greater opponent than him.