‘Fearless Chisora keeps pushing boundaries’

Derek Chisora may well be the most remarkable British heavyweight of all time.

Fearless does not quite cover what he does. He just keeps pushing the boundaries.

He has been in with some of the best fighters of his generation, fought them in hostile locations and, on occasions, pushed them all the way.

It is no secret I would have loved Chisora to retire a long time ago and become a statesman – he could give an awful lot to the sport outside the ring.

In December 2021 I wrote that he had nothing left to prove and should walk away.

In fact, I have wanted him to walk away so many times over the past 10 years – ever since he lost a second fight to Tyson Fury in 2014.

But then ‘Del Boy’ goes and puts in an amazing performance.

Whether you like it or not, if he beats Joe Joyce at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday – and this is a ridiculous statement to make in the summer of 2024 – he will be back in world level contention.

There were calls for Chisora to retire after he fought Dillian Whyte in 2018, but then came the brilliant showing against Oleksandr Usyk.

He lost to Joseph Parker a few years later and we wanted him to end it there, but then he beat fringe world-level contender Kubrat Pulev.

After he lost to Tyson Fury in their trilogy in December 2022, he returned with a win against Gerald Washington.

Perhaps we should use reverse psychology – tell Chisora we want him to stay and that will make him leave.

I have not seen anything which makes me unduly worried about Chisora’s health. I spoke with him after the Fury-Usyk fight in May and he was as sharp and funny as ever.

Chisora, who has shared the ring with both Fury and Usyk, broke down the fight with me and talked about tactics.

He also got some sponsorship from a local fast food restaurant and was around at 3.30 in the morning handing out mango milkshakes.

But the facts are when you are 40 years of age and about to have your 48th fight in a very long and hard 20-year career, it takes a toll on you.

If Chisora gets stopped by Joyce then I will be leading the calls for him to never fight again.

In March 2023 Joyce was the most dangerous and avoided contender in heavyweight boxing.

He had great wins over Daniel Dubois, Carlos Takam, Christian Hammer and Parker and people were finding ways not to fight the ‘Juggernaut’, tying themselves up in other bouts.

Then came the two devastating knockout defeats against Zhilei Zhang, which took me by surprise. I thought Joyce would win the first one, then I thought he would correct his mistakes and adjust in the rematch.

If Joyce loses to Chisora – which would not be a shock – it puts him in a really bad position.

That would be three defeats in his past four fights and he will be moving further away from world title contention.

He will then have to make a decision: does he stick around and become a measuring stick for the young heavyweights out there, those clamouring to have him as a scalp on their record?

That is no way for an Olympic silver medallist to see out his career.

So there is a level of desperation for both Joyce and Chisora. It will be attritional and gruelling – and someone will be heartbroken.

I am convinced we will know quite early on in this fight – within a minute – how the result will go and which boxer has the most left in his tank.

Steve Bunce was speaking to BBC Sport’s Kal Sajad.