At the O2 Arena in Greenwich, United Kingdom, the eternal Dereck “War” Chisora (35-13-0, 23 KOs) surprised once again. Despite being heavily favored by experts and bookmakers, the 40-year-old Zimbabwe-born, London-raised fighter defeated Joe “Juggernaut” Joyce (16-3-0, 15 KOs) on points after ten intense and tumultuous rounds, forcing his opponent to say goodbye to his dreams of glory. These were the official scorecards read at the end of the main event organized by Queensberry Promotions’ Frank Warren: 97 to 92 and twice 96 to 94, all in favor of Chisora.
In November 2020, almost four years ago, many were convinced that Joe Joyce had hidden qualities beyond those of a crude puncher who relentlessly advanced without defense. This belief stemmed from his stunning victory in the British derby against then-rising star Daniel Dubois, who retired in the tenth round with an orbital fracture. In that instance, Joyce exhibited a very reasonable tactical plan, relying heavily on his left jab and managing for long stretches, especially in the latter half of the fight, to impose long-range combat on his rival.
However, that tactical wisdom vanished overnight. From the following fight and in all subsequent ones, Juggernaut reverted to the one-dimensional fighter everyone knew, and yesterday’s contest was no exception in this regard. From the outset, Joyce launched himself at his opponent, completely nullifying his height and reach advantage and exposing himself to Chisora’s violent hooks. The latter took full advantage of fighting on his preferred terrain, managing to clearly dominate the first four rounds with the partial exception of the second, where a sudden two-handed flurry from Joyce put him in serious trouble in the final seconds.
From the fifth round on, however, “Del Boy” became noticeably slower and more cumbersome. At 40 years old and after many battles in his career, the muscular boxer with African roots began breathing heavily, lowered his work rate, and lost some of his explosiveness. At this point, Joyce could have capitalized by accumulating points with straight punches, avoiding close exchanges, but this realization never dawned on him. Juggernaut kept falling into his opponent’s trap, continually closing in and nullifying the work he sporadically managed to do from a distance. Joyce’s higher work rate continued to be less effective than Chisora’s desperate hooks, leaving Del Boy clearly ahead after seven rounds.
The further drain on his energy made Del Boy an increasingly easy target, and during the grueling eighth round, the brave ring veteran seemed on the brink of collapse. Certainly, Joyce believed so, attacking relentlessly in the ninth round, but just when all seemed lost, Chisora, with his back to the ropes, pulled an incredible rabbit out of the hat: a sudden right hook hit Joyce square in the face, sending him to the canvas to everyone’s astonishment.
Joyce tried to finish the fight aggressively, but he too appeared tired and unfocused, even slipping clumsily during one of his attempts to corner his opponent. In the end, it was Chisora, rising from his ashes, who somehow found the breath for a final sprint, landing several powerful hooks in the last minute of the fight.
Personally, at the end of the match, I had Chisora ahead by four points and thus agree with the judges who, in my opinion, declared the rightful winner. While the spectacle offered by the two fighters was entertaining in its own way, due to the many hits from both and the unpredictability that characterized the fight until the end, it must be admitted that the level seen in the ring was not what one might expect from two fighters with great international ambitions. Both Joyce and Chisora are clearly in the declining phase of their careers and would probably do well to hang up their gloves, although after this unexpected triumph, we are quite sure that Del Boy will seek further prestigious challenges and will not struggle to find offers in this regard.