Eddie Hearn tuned in to watch Tyson Fury defend his WBC Heavyweight title against Derek Chisora at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but believed that the action was ‘hard to watch.’
Hearn and Chisora go back a long time in the sport, with most of ‘Del Boy’s more recent fights being under the Matchroom banner. This one wasn’t, but that didn’t stop the promoter tuning in.
Speaking to IFL TV, Hearn first pointed out an issue with the narrative of the event – namely a contradiction from Fury‘s promoter and the man behind the fight, Frank Warren.
“You know, it was hard to watch. Look, Del’s a diamond. He’ll never stop trying. I don’t like pointing out what’s been said in the past because it just seems like me that gets all the stick anyway, but Frank Warren said like two years ago ‘Derek Chisora should retire, it’s a disgrace they’re letting him fight’ and then someone mentioned the Fury – Chisora fight and he said ‘oh it’s a joke’ and then, two years later, promotes the fight.”
He echoed the thoughts of many fans that, at points, the fight made for uncomfortable viewing.
“The problem with boxing is during that fight everyone’s watching saying ‘you’ve got to stop this fight’ but no one’s actually stopping it. Do you know I mean?”
“It’s very difficult, because Don Charles knows Derek Chisora better than anyone. Derek Chisora will never quit. Never. And I’m sure Don Charles knows that. You need the ref, and I think Victor Loughlin did a good jab – it should have been done three or four rounds earlier. And listen, Tyson Fury also held him up really, like, a little bit.”
“In a situation like this, Derek could’ve given Tyson Fury the best shot he had in the tank and it wouldn’t have hurt him, at that point, and he’s losing every round. So, if you can’t win the fight…”
Finally, Hearn answered whether or not he thought it was time for heavyweight war horse, Chisora, to call it a day on the sport of boxing – at least inside the ring.
“I think so. It’s difficult because when you’re beating Pulev – Pulev’s a top 15 guy, Chisora beat him, so he doesn’t want to retire. But then he gets a big payday against Fury and obviously Fury’s a level above him. He can come back and fight a Zhang [Zhilei], or he can fight a [Filip] Hrgovic … Fabi Wardley. But, he’s also made a huge amount of money the last couple of years. We all love him, and I think now would be a great time to probably hang them up.”
Whilst Chisora’s future is uncertain, Fury now looks to move on to an undisputed fight with the other heavyweight champion, Oleksandr Usyk, in early 2023.