Dereck Chisora pulled no punches in assessment of Joe Joyce vs Joseph Parker this weekend – with Del Boy sparing no sympathy for Parker in particular.
Having been sat ringside for the epic heavyweight contest, ‘Del Boy’ gave a frank assessment of the New Zealander’s performance to BT Sport – saying it looked like he hadn’t put the work in during his training camp.
“By the looks of Joe [Parker], he didn’t train hard enough for this fight. He took it very lightly, he didn’t diet – he didn’t invest in his craft.”
“I don’t understand why. It’s just disappointing, and this will be hard for him to come back from. He left New Zealand to come and fight here and you come and fight like that? It’s disappointing.”
Parker upped sticks and left his family to train full time with Andy Lee in Morecambe, so Chisora’s words are unlikely to go down well.
There aren’t too many observers who seem to agree with Chisora’s view, with most believing Joyce’s relentless pressure would have broken most heavyweights and that Parker showed remarkable grit to last as long as he did.
Chisora lost back-to-back fights to Parker in 2021, the first in particular being a close contest that the Zimbabwe native was adamant he won. So perhaps there is still some animosity harboured there that could explain his somewhat harsh words for Parker.
Clearly in no mood for making friends that night, Del got involved in a ringside fracas with WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, with the two exchanging heated words, fuelling speculation that a trilogy contest could be back on the cards.