.jpg)
Tyson Fury has dethroned Wladimir Klitschko and defeated Deontay Wilder twice since the last time he fought Dereck Chisora.
The undefeated Fury also has held every heavyweight title at one time or another since he stopped Chisora after the 10th round of their rematch in November 2014. Those accomplishments have enabled the brash Brit to become one of boxing’s biggest attractions since his second fight against Chisora eight years ago.
A crowd in excess of 60,000 is expected to attend their third fight Saturday night at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. A capacity crowd barely a third of that size, approximately 22,000, assembled for their second fight at ExCeL London.
Handicappers have mostly made Fury, who will defend his WBC belt, a 25-1 favorite over Chisora as their third fight nears. Chisora still sees this 34-year-old version of “The Gypsy King” as an inferior fighter to the then-contender that out-classed Chisora in their rematch.
“I think he was a better fighter when I last boxed him,” Chisora told former two-division champion Carl Frampton during an interview that was posted recently to BT Sport Boxing’s YouTube channel.
Frampton promptly asked Chisora, who will turn 39 on December 29, if he is better than when he fought Fury the last time.
“I’m better now,” Chisora said. “You know, the last time I fought him, he was better. He was good. Yeah, he was on point.”
The 6-foot-9, 264-pound Fury mostly used his jab and occasional counter right hands to completely control their rematch. Chisora’s corner men stopped their one-sided rematch before the 11th round began.
Fury’s second defeat of Chisora was more convincing than his first victory versus the London-based, Zimbabwe-born contender. Chisora lost a 12-round unanimous decision by scores of 118-111, 117-112 and 117-112 in that fight, which took place in July 2011 at Wembley Arena in London.
Chisora (33-12, 23 KOs) has lost seven times since Manchester’s Fury defeated him in their second meeting, including a brutal 11th-round knockout against another British rival, Dillian Whyte, in December 2018 at O2 Arena in London.
While Chisora insists he has already faced a better version of Fury (32-0-1, 23 KOs), he realizes he is in for another very difficult fight Saturday night.
“He’s a good fighter,” Chisora said. “I’m not gonna lie to you. As long as he don’t mess around, you know, he’s good at what he does. I’m good at what I do as well, so we’ll see.”
ESPN+ will stream four Fury-Chisora undercard bouts before the main event, starting at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday. Fury-Chisora III will headline a BT Sport Box Office pay-per-view show in the United Kingdom and Ireland (6 p.m. GMT; £24.95).
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.