Derek Chisora desperately needed a win to stop the profuse bleeding. Having lost four of his last five matches, the aging contender heard the whispers coming from those believing he needed to hang up his gloves and walk away.
Becoming a normal civilian isn’t exactly in the 39-year-old’s DNA. So, when he was given the chance to lace ‘em up against Gerald Washington, Chisora happily took the opportunity and ran with it.
It wasn’t the easiest night at the office, but Chisora (34-13, 23 KOs) eked out the win. Now, the fan-friendly Britt is hoping to parlay that victory into a big-time showdown against a certain gigantic heavyweight who’s on one helluva roll.
“Zhang, make it happen,” Chisora told Eddie Hearn.
Chisora’s arbitrary request to face Zhilei Zhang next, stems from the Chinese native’s recent run. In back-to-back fights this year, the 38-year-old managed to score the upset win over Joe Joyce. In doing so, Zhang is one of the hot names in the heavyweight division.
Chisora, naturally, wants some of that shine for himself. Zhang, on the other hand, recently revealed that he’s interested in either fighting for a world title or one of the division’s best. Unfortunately for Chisora, he doesn’t check either of those boxes.
Still, despite Zhang (26-1-1, 21 KOs) looking to go in another direction, Chisora doesn’t believe for a single second that Zhang has what it takes to stand up to him if the two were going blow for blow in the pocket.
It’s been a while since Chisora has separated an opponent from their consciousness, four years to be exact. Although he isn’t quite getting the deadly results that he wants, Chisora still believes that he has pernicious power. And while Zhang has the type of chin that most can only dream of, against Chisora, the former title challenger has no doubt that he’ll lay him out before the sound of the final bell.
“I’ll f—— knock him out.”