Too much for Tyson Fury’s big fight.
The reigning WBC heavyweight champion won’t be fighting Oleksandr Usyk or Anthony Joshua, at least not immediately. Instead, ESPN reports that Fury is close to reaching a deal to fight longtime rival Derek Chisora on December 3 in London.
Fury and Chisora have sparred twice, with Fury (32-0-1, 23 KOs) winning decisively in 2011 and knockout in 2014.
The third match is scheduled to take place at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which has a capacity of more than 60,000 people for football.
Many assumed Fury, the WBC heavyweight belt holder, would face Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed title after the Ukrainian knocked out former champion Anthony Joshua for the second time on August 20.
When that didn’t happen, he and Anthony Joshua entered negotiations for a long-awaited confrontation. However, negotiations broke down late last month.
So now it looks like Fury will turn to an old rival – with whom he has been in contact for months – to get busy in his voluntary title defense.
“The Gypsy King” hasn’t fought since April, when he stopped Dillian Whyte in six rounds. That follows a straight knockout win over Deontay Wilder that underscored Fury’s place at the top of the tournament.
Chisora (33-12, 23 KOs) injected life into his faltering career when he pointed out longtime candidate Kubrat Pulev in July, after consecutive decisive losses to Usyk and Joseph Parker (twice).
However, the Londoner is 38 years old and clearly not the boxer he used to be.
