Tyson Fury has defended Derek Chisora as the opponent for his return to the ring on December 3rd, saying the name value brought by Chisora and his familiarity to British fight fans made him the best option.
Speaking on the True Geordie YouTube channel, Fury hit back at criticism of the Chisora fight, arguing it was better to lock horns with someone known to the British public and make history in the process.
“It’s history making. I’ll be the first heavyweight champion in history to complete two trilogies.
You take the top 15 heavyweights, there are a few foreigners in there who nobody knows about.
They might have undefeated records, but when I fight those foreigners nobody’s interested anyway.
You’re better off with somebody who you know is a household name, who people can relate to and can support and sing ‘Oh, Derek Chisora’ than somebody who’s name you can’t even pronounce and they’ve never heard of.”
Fury defeated Chisora in comprehensive fashion on two occasions in the pair’s early careers, leaving many fans questioning the justification for a trilogy bout – especially given Chisora’s perceived decline and Fury’s ascension to the pinnacle of the heavyweight division.
At the end of the interview, Fury momentarily lost his cool, even hurling insults at the interviewer when pressed about choosing Chisora over other potential opponents.
The failure of Fury to agree terms with both Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk has perhaps caused criticism of the Chisora fight to be even more fervent – although reports suggest talks for an undisputed showdown between Fury and Usyk in the new year are progressing well.
Despite the somewhat negative reception from fans and pundits, ticket sales for Fury vs Chisora are seemingly doing well. Frank Warren has claimed that over 57,000 tickets have already been sold, which would put the fight well on track to sell out Tottenham Hotspurs’ stadium.