A Zimbabwean-born British professional boxer Derek Chisora is the holder of multiple heavyweight titles, including the British Commonwealth titles from 2010 to 2011, and the European title from 2013 to 2014. In December 2020, BoxRec ranked him as the world's eighth-best active heavyweight. He reached his highest rank no 6 in 2013 and has been positioned seven times in BoxRec's top 10 heavyweights.
Chisora was born on 29 December 1983 in Mbare, Harare, Zimbabwe. As of May 2021, the 6'2" boxer has a fight record of 32 wins and 11 losses. He moved to England with his family at 16 and lived in Finchley. As an amateur, he had 20 fights which included winning the 2006 ABA super heavyweight title and a gold medal at the Four Nations Championships.
Chisora has earned well in the process going against Fury, Whyte, Klitschko, Takam, and Hayne. He has come from £5,000 to £20,000, then £80,000 to £100,000 and then £200,000, then £500,000, £900,000, and £1.5m, as per his own word reported by the Telegraph. On the other hand, the boxer also pointed to the fact that how there's little to no money involved while defending a title.
Derek Chisora is also the winner of the European title from 2013 to 2014. SOURCE: The Sun He, nonetheless, maintained that the heavyweight game pays more than any other sport. He pocketed his biggest fight purse, £4.4m (guaranteed money), in a bout against Usyk. This was $2million for his fight against David Price in 2019. Sources mention he has also invested money in the farm for a secondary income.
Chisora's net worth is estimated to be in the range of £6million to £8 million.
In 2010, Chisora was given a 12-week prison sentence suspended for two years following the attack he made on his then-girlfriend. He committed the assault in the wake of finding texts from a man on her phone, as per the court documents. At the time the court was told that the boxer had convictions (for the possession of an offensive weapon) prior to abusing his girlfriend.
He was ordered to pay £1,500 in compensation and £500 in the form of additional penalties. Additionally, he was told to complete a mandatory 150 hours of community work. In September 2016, he entangled himself with the authority after they caught him without a valid driving license, insurance, and MOT certificate.
He was suspended for four months and fined £2,500 for biting Butlin during the fifth round of their contest in 2009. In March 2012, the British Boxing Board of Control withdrew his license due and suspended him indefinitely for a WBC title in the aftermath of his backstage brawl with Vitali Klitschko.
Derek Chisora with his daughter, Angelina Chisora SOURCE: Instagram Derek is also a father to a daughter, Angelina Chisora. Though, the biological mother of Angelina is still a mystery.
The Zimbabwean native made his professional debut on 17 February 2007 at Wembley Arena beating Hungarian Istvan Kecskes by a TKO in the second round. He next defeated Tony Booth by a point decision 40-36 in April 2007.
On October 13, 2007, he bested Darren Morgan at York Hall, winning on points after four rounds. In January 2008, he scored a four-round PTS victory over Paul Butlin at the York Hall. That same year in June, he defeated Sam Sexton by TKO in a fight over six rounds. He fought his sixth bout on September 12, 2008, against Shawn McLean - with the former winning via sixth-round stoppage.
Derek Chisora held the British and Commonwealth titles from 2010 to 2011, SOURCE: Talk Sport Del boy took his undefeated record to 7-0 with a third-round stoppage victory over Lee Swaby on September 28, 2008. His record reached 8-0 when he defeated Neil Simpson at the ExCeL via a second-round corner retirement in December 2008.
In his next series of fights, he defeated Danil Peretyatko, Paul Butlin, and Zurab Noniashvili. On 15 May 2010, Chisora got his first world title by defeating Danny Williams with a left hook in the second round. He got his second title, Commonwealth heavyweight by disappointing Sam Sexton at the LG Arena on September 18, 2010.
On 23 July 2011, he got his first pro career loss at the hands of then-undefeated prospect Tyson Fury. After defeating Remigijus Ziausys, Chisora was upset by Robert Helenius via a split decision on December 3, 2011. On February 18, 2012, he suffered his third career defeat in a match against Vitali Klitschko for the WBC heavyweight championship.
On July 14, 2012, Chisora faced David Haye in a fight billed as Licensed To Thrill. After the completion of the sixth round, the referee gave Haye a TKO win.
In the next five fights, Derek subsequently triumphed over Hector Alfredo Avila, Malik Scott, Edmund Gerber, Ondrrj Pala, and Kevin Johnson - the two of which were for the WBO International heavyweight title ( vs Scott) and European heavyweight title (vs Gerber).
On November 29, 2014, Chisora had a rematch against Fury at ExCeL London. After the end of the tenth round, the officials declared the Gypsy King the ultimate winner after Chisora failed to land any telling punches. On May 7, 2016, the Harare native boxer entered into the ring to fight Kubrat Pulev. The bout ended in a split decision in favor of Pulev.
Chisora then defeated Drazan Janjanin on September 10, 2016. This was followed by his yet another defeat to Dillian Whyte via a split decision. He next bested Robert Filipovic on September 30 2017 via TKO after having fought the Croatian for 5 rounds. A year later, Agit Kabayel gave Chisora his eighth professional loss a decision made through a majority decision in the aftermath of 12 rounds battle. In the fight that followed, Derek outmatched Zakaria Azzouzi and had the win in round 2 by a decision TKO.
With the win over Carlos Takam on July 28, 2018, he claimed the vacant WBA International title. He failed to get his revenge in a rematch against Whyte in October 2018 after the former won the brawl in the eleventh round. After the loss, Chisora secured three consecutive wins against the likes of Senad Gashi, Artur Szpilka, and David Price. His last two matches gave him his career's 10th and 11th losses (on the trot) coming from Oleksandr Usyk and Joseph Parker.
