Derek Chisora doesn’t know when he’ll be back in a boxing ring, but if it’s any time soon, then he could be heading over to MMA.
The heavyweight boxing veteran revealed to ESPN that he might be having an MMA fight with Bellator if he doesn’t have a date set for a planned fight against former undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. The fight was set for May 23 at The O2 in London, but that event was postponed as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, calling off all Matchroom Boxing shows as well all boxing in the United Kingdom.
“If the date doesn’t come up for Usyk I think I will be doing Bellator in July while I wait. I’m going in the Octagon and we are talking to them [Bellator] at the minute and it might happen in July in the U.K. I’ve been [MMA] training for two and half years at London Shootfighters in Wembley with Alex Demetriades. I can do the MMA while I wait for the Usyk fight. It will be doing both at the same time,” Chisora said.
A fight between Usyk and Chisora had been in the works for months given that both boxers are promoted by Matchroom Boxing. Usyk, the current mandatory challenger to Anthony Joshua’s WBO heavyweight title, is fresh off his heavyweight debut win against Chazz Witherspoon last year.
Chisora has won a number of regional titles throughout his career and faced a number of notable heavyweights such as Tyson Fury, Dillian Whyte and David Haye. Chisora unsuccessfully challenged for the WBC heavyweight title in 2012 when he lost a unanimous decision to Vitali Klitschko. The 36-year-old Chisora, ranked in the top 15 by the WBA, WBO, WBC and IBF, has won his last three fights.
