Joe Joyce vs Dereck Chisora Tips & Prediction

There is an all British heavyweight showdown taking place this weekend as veterans Joe Joyce and Dereck Chisora face off at the O2 Arena in London.

Chisora is a former world title challenger with a 34-13 record, while Joyce continues his rebuild with a very tricky assignment after a pair of defeats to Zhilei Zhang derailed his own title aspirations

Tip 1 - Chisora to win @ 17/5

Chisora has four defeats in his last six fights and is probably out of the running to get back to challenging for world titles at this stage of his career, but he has shown no desire to call it quits just yet and the 40-year-old looks worth the risk as a big price underdog here.

In contrast, Joyce is on the rebuild but he needs to be perfect from this point on if he is to work his way back into title contention.

Juggernaut became the mandatory challenger for the WBO title by stopping former world champion Joseph Parker in 2022, but his decision to face Zhang proved costly as he was stopped in the sixth round in their first meeting and then in the third in their rematch.

Joyce picked up a late KO win over Kash Ali earlier this year in his first bout since that pair of losses and now has a 16-2 overall record, but at 38 time is no longer on his side as he bids to engineer a shot at one of the world titles.

Chisora is only two years older than Joyce but has put a few more miles on the metaphorical clock having made his professional debut back in 2007, a decade before his opponent joined the pro ranks.

However, that also means Chisora has far more experience than Joyce and that may just prove the difference when these two meet in London.

Del Boy has lost four of his last six outings but all of those defeats have come against elite level opposition.

Chisora lost on points to Oleksandr Usyk in the now undisputed champion’s second outing at heavyweight, suffered a pair of defeats to Parker - who has since beaten Zhang and Deontay Wilder - and then lost to Tyson Fury when challenging for the WBC belt.

His wins during that run have been against strong opponents in Kubrat Pulev and American Gerald Washington.

Joyce didn’t look particularly good against Ali, and those losses to Zhang have perhaps taken something away from a fighter who was once assumed to have a granite chin.

Both of these fighters are pressure fighters who like to come forward and that could lead to a few early fireworks. Chisora is perhaps harder to hit, however, and if he is able to dominate the early exchanges he can pull off a minor upset here.

Tip 2 - Chisora to win in rounds 5-6 @ 19/1

Whoever finishes this fight with their hand raised, it seems unlikely that the full 12 rounds will be required given the power both of these men possess and Chisora has enough about him to claim a stoppage.

The Londoner hasn’t actually managed an early finish since 2019, but he still has an impressive KO record with 23 of his 34 wins coming inside the distance.

Only one of Joyce’s 18 fights has required the judges and both of his losses so far have been via stoppages.

The defeats to Zhang highlighted Joyce’s defensive flaws and proved he can be hurt, which suggests that if Chisora is able to get his shots away he could claim a win without needing to go to the scorecards.

If we were to be specific on when the fight could end, it is most likely to be after an early flourish from Joyce, Joyce will look to pile the pressure on Chisora and if Chisora can get through the opening 3-4 rounds unscathed, we think he could get a shock KO victory here.