# Derek Chisora vs. Joseph Parker

Derek Chisora vs. Joseph Parker, was a professional boxing match contested between Derek Chisora, and former heavyweight champion and WBO Oriental heavyweight champion, Joseph Parker. The bout took place on 1 May 2021 at the AO Arena, with Parker winning by split decision.

## Background

On 31 August 2019, a fight between Chisora and Parker was announced to take place at the O2 Arena in London on 26 October 2019, with the bout taking place as the co-main event to the World Boxing Super Series: Light welterweight final between Regis Prograis and Josh Taylor live on Sky Sports Box Office. On 2 October, it was announced Parker had been forced to withdraw from the fight due to a spider bite that was causing illness during training. On 8 October, David Price was announced as Chisora's replacement opponent. In the post-fight interview, after defeating Price, Chisora commented on potentially rescheduling the fight with Parker next "if we can get Joseph Parker ASAP, I'm ready to go, I hope this time he doesn't get a spider bite, so let's try and make that fight".
After the pair's respective fights against Oleksandr Usyk and against Junior Fa, on 19 March 2021, a fight between Chisora and Parker was announced to take place at the AO Arena in Manchester on 1 May 2021. At the weigh-in for the fight, the event looked to be in jeopardy as Chisora threatened to pull out, after refusing to participate in a coin toss, which would determine who would have to walk to the ring first. Promoter Eddie Hearn and Chisora's manager Haye, proceeded with the coin toss, with Chisora losing, which he objected to. The dispute was resolved on the day of the fight, and the fight went ahead as planned.

## The fights
### Undercard

The first bouts of the night saws wins for prospects Scott Fitzgerald and Johnny Fisher as well as an upset loss for James Tennyson against Jovanni Straffon in a bout for the vacant IBO lightweight title.

### Bivol vs. Richards

The first of two world title bouts on the card saw Dmitry Bivol would make the 2nd defence of his WBA light heavyweight title against the No. 8 ranked contender Craig Richards. Despite a 19 month absence from the ring the champion was a 33 to 1 on favourite to win, with Richards a 14 to 1 underdog.

#### The fight

The champion appeared to take the first eight rounds, while Richards managed to edge out the last four rounds of the fight.
Bivol would win the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 118–110, 115–113 and 115–114.

#### Aftermath

Bivol called out his fellow light heavyweight champions, Artur Beterbiev and Joe Smith Jr. for a unification bout in the post-fight interview, stating: "It doesn't matter who wants to fight me, I'm open for everyone from the light heavyweight division".
| Preceded byvs. Lenin Castillo | Dmitry Bivol's bouts 1 May 2021 | Succeeded byvs. Umar Salamov |
| Preceded byvs. Shakan Pitters | Craig Richards's bouts 1 May 2021 | Succeeded byvs. Marek Matyja |

### Eubank Jr. vs. Morrison

The following bout saw WBA Interim middleweight champion Chris Eubank Jr, return after 17 months of inactivity to face Marcus Morrison (WBC:26th). It was his first bout with his new trainer, former four-division world champion Roy Jones Jr.

#### The fight

Eubank Jr. was victorious via unanimous decision, with all three judges' scorecards reading 98–92 in his favour.

#### Aftermath

Post-fight, Eubank Jr. reflected on the bout which had gone the full ten-round distance: "I had him [Morrison] hurt bad in the second round and probably could have ended the fight. But I wanted rounds. I wanted to use some of the stuff that Roy Jones has taught me. Experience the instructions he was giving me. If I see an opening, I usually take it. But I'm here to learn with a new coach. You can't get better by knocking a guy out in the second round. I decided to keep him in there. He's a tough kid."
| Preceded byvs. Matt Korobov | Chris Eubank Jr's bouts 1 May 2021 | Succeeded byvs. Wanik Awdijan |
| Preceded byvs. Darryl Sharp | Marcus Morrison's bouts 1 May 2021 | Succeeded byvs. Lewis van Poetsch |

### Taylor vs. Jonas

The co featured bout saw Undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor face Natasha Jonas. They had met in the quarter finals of the 2012 Olympics, with Taylor taking the win en-route to the gold medal.

#### The fight

In a competive fight Taylor defeated Jonas by unanimous decision with two of the ringside judges scoring the fight 96-95 and the third seeing the contest as 96-94.

#### Aftermath

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live after the bout, Taylor said "I'm just absolutely delighted with the win. I had to dig deep near the end and leave it all in there tonight. I think I showed the heart of a champion tonight."
| Preceded byvs. Miriam Gutiérrez | Katie Taylor's bouts 1 May 2021 | Succeeded byvs. Jennifer Han |
| Preceded byvs. Terri Harper | Natasha Jonas's bouts 1 May 2021 | Succeeded byvs. Vaida Masiokaite |

### Main Event

From the opening bell, Chisora started a fast pace, sending Parker to the canvas with an overhand right, just seven seconds into the first round. As the early rounds progressed, Chisora continued to fight aggressively on the front foot, closing the distance and applying sustained pressure, landing hooks to body and head on the inside, forcing Parker to be backed up against the ropes repeatedly. As Parker worked behind the jab, boxing at long range defensively. In the middle rounds, Chisora maintained his high output and remained on the offensive, pressing forward, successfully landing a series of hard right hands and body shots. With Parker responding, leading with solid jabs and quick combination punches on the outside. In the later rounds, Chisora continued setting the pace, fighting up close, attempting to outwork Parker with his output. As Parker rallied in the latter stages, feinting effectively with his left hand and throwing several scoring flurries on the back foot. With both Chisora and Parker exchanging punches in the final round. Parker won by a controversial split decision with scores of 116–111, 115–113 in his favour, and 115–113 in favour of Chisora.

## Aftermath

Following Parker's win, in the post-fight interview, Parker said "Derek is a very tough opponent" and "it was a very close fight, I thought it could go either way but I am very thankful and blessed to get the win today". Chisora felt as though he won the fight, saying "I train hard, I fight, I put the pressure on, I bring everything and this the treatment I get from boxing" and "I give everything in the gym, and when I put it all in there, this is the results I get". Chisora also stated Parker's trainer Andy Lee said he won the fight, which Lee replied saying "After the fight, Joe's came back and I said I'm not sure we got this" and "we're in this country and I thought he should get some fair play". Both Parker and Chisora expressed interest in an immediate rematch.
On 16 September 2021, it was announced that Parker and Chisora would square off in a rematch on 18 December, again at the AO Arena in Manchester, England. Parker defeated Chisora by unanimous decision.

## Fight card

Confirmed bouts:
^Note 1 For WBO Inter-Continental heavyweight title ^Note 2 For WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO and The Ring lightweight titles ^Note 3 For WBA (Super) light heavyweight title ^Note 4 For IBO lightweight title

## Broadcasting

| Country | Broadcaster | Broadcaster |
| Country | PPV | Stream |
| United Kingdom | Sky Sports Box Office | — |
| New Zealand | Spark Sports | — |
| Worldwide | — | DAZN |