Fury to defend heavyweight title vs. Chisora, who he has easily beaten twice already

Old pals to meet Dec. 3 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

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Lineal and WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury will defend the title against good pal and familiar foe Dereck Chisora on Dec. 3, the pair announced at a news conference on Thursday.

The fight will take place outdoors in likely wintry conditions at London’s 65,000-seat Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where they met for the news conference along with Fury co-promoters Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions and Top Rank chairman Bob Arum.

The fight will stream on ESPN+ in the Untied States and air on BT Sport Box Office pay-per-view in the United Kingdom.

“I am thrilled to be delivering a Tyson Fury world title defense in front of the British fans in London,” Warren said.

The bout will mark the third time Fury and Chisora will face each other. Fury won the first two bouts in one-sided fashion.

In 2011, Fury handed Chisora his first loss, routing him by unanimous decision to take his British and Commonwealth titles via scores of 118-111, 117-112 and 117-112. In a 2014 rematch, Fury took Chisora’s European title and won the vacant British title when he retired on the stool after the 10th round.

Fury, who is coming off a one-sided sixth-round knockout of interim titlist and mandatory challenger Dillian Whyte on April 23 in a fight that drew a record 94,000 to Wembley Stadium in London in what Fury said would be his retirement fight, hopes to fight unified three-belt titleholder Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed crown in the spring.

Usyk was not available to fight before the end of this year and Fury said he did not want to sit idle after saying over the summer that he was ending a brief retirement that nobody took seriously in the first place.

Fury (32-0-1, 23 KOs), 34, insisted on fighting in December and will face British countryman Chisora after teasing fans with the prospect of a mega fight with former two-time unified titlist and British star Anthony Joshua that turned out to be too good to be true.

“Tyson clearly conquered America across his trilogy with Deontay Wilder and there is also huge demand to stage his fights from sites across the world,” Warren said. “Tyson wanted to fight in his home country again this year following his special night at Wembley Stadium in April.

“Derek, also a big favorite with British fans, has reinvented himself in recent years and Tyson has long stated his wish to fight him for a third time. Tyson can’t afford any slip-up in this fight as he has the much-publicized undisputed match up with Usyk in the New Year, which we’re really looking forward to.”

Warren’s embrace of Fury-Chisora III marked a major change of tune from what he told BBC in January, a few weeks after Chisora had been knocked down three times by former world titlist Joseph Parker in their rematch and suffered his third loss in a row.

“Chisora should retire, end of story,” Warren said to BBC. “The only way Tyson fights Chisora again is if we were struggling for an opponent or if Tyson insisted on it. (Chisora) should retire. He shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the ring, let alone in there with Tyson.”

There is no deal in place for Fury-Usyk, but it’s a fight both fighters have said they would like.

“There are talks about what’s next for Tyson, but the first order of business is a battle against an extraordinarily tough fighter in Dereck Chisora,” Arum said.

Whoever Fury is fighting, he said he is pleased to be able to fight for a second time this year.

“Frank Warren promised me when I returned from my short retirement that I would fight in December,” Fury said. “We tried to fight Usyk, we tried to fight Joshua. We tried to fight a few people, but they didn’t want no smoke. So Frank is delivering this date on Dec. 3, so big shout out for that, Frank.

“As for me trying to sit here and sell Dereck Chisora to the fans, I don’t got to sell absolutely nothing to nobody because if we go that bar over there and order a triple Jack Daniels on the rocks we know what the fuck it’s gonna do. We know what it’s gonna do. You got the so-called guys in the division who are top guys. You offer them fights (and they want) no smoke. No smoke. You offer it to Dereck Chisora — Boom! He sat up here opposite me. Man’s got balls and in today’s society, in this boxing game, there’s a big lack of balls. And you now who you are, these guys who don’t want no smoke. Chisora does what he says — he goes to war.”

Although nobody asked for the bout and a trilogy fight seems pointless, Fury defended it.

“When you got two heavy forces colliding with massive bombs, guess what? Someone’s getting knocked out,” Fury said. “If he lands a big swing on me I’m getting knocked out. If I land a big swing on him, he’s getting knocked out.  Me and Chisora are gonna put on a helluva fight and may the best man win.”

Few will give Chisora (33-12, 23 KOs), 38, any serious chance to win. He was once a contender, losing a shot at then-WBC champion Vitali Klitschko via a one-sided decision in 2012, but it has been years since he has been anything more than a division gatekeeper or won a significant fight. Between 2020 and 2021 he lost three fights in a row, all decisions, to Usyk and twice to Parker before winning a disputed split decision against 41-year-old former title challenger Kubrat Pulev on July 9.

Chisora was happy to get the title shot.

“I’m buzzing,” he said. “This will be a good fight. Tyson has always said there would be a third fight and the fight is here now, so I’m excited. I thank Tyson for the opportunity to fight him. Is there bad blood? Not really, but I want to take what’s his and make mine. So I can’t box him. I have to go in there with the mentality of I have to physically take what’s his and make mine.

“So, for me to sit here and try and say different things, it’s not the way I operate. The end goal is I have to take what’s his and make mine. That’s my whole objective to this fight. So what’s his, I want to make it mine. Physically, mentally, I want to come and take it off him. That’s how I’m training right now. I want to physically take it off him, the same way he went to Las Vegas and physically took what was Deontay Wilder’s and made it his (in their 2020 rematch). This is exactly what I want to do.”

Dubois on undercard

Warren also announced the co-feature in which WBA “regular” heavyweight titlist Daniel Dubois (18-1, 17 KOs), 25, of England, will make his first defense against southpaw Kevin Lerena (28-1, 14 KOs), 30, of South Africa.

Dubois won the belt by knocking out then-unbeaten Trevor Bryan in the fourth round on June 11 in Miami.

Lerena (28-1, 14 KOs), 30, a pro since 2011, fought most of his career as a cruiserweight before joining the heavyweight ranks in 2020. He has won three fights in a row since moving up in weight. In his most recent fight on Sept. 17, Lerena won a lopsided decision over long-faded for world title challenger Mariusz Wach.

Photo: Queensberry Promotions

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