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A-Side, B-Side.
We've heard it all before.
But here's the thing: now that Chisora is essentially a veteran and the guy people call when they need a tough dance partner that they're fairly certain to beat, he holds a singular advantage over almost every other fighter in the game today.
Chisora has given all but one of his opponents he's fought, a tough night. Chisora's resume is a who's who of the prior and current generations, having tangled with everyone except the slim few punchers like Wilder and Ortiz, and never crossing paths with the likes of Breezy, Stiverne and 'Prince' Charles Martin.
But in almost every fight near the end of his storied career, Chisora has (happily) been the B-Side. He wants to get paid; he knows he draws money, but when he's up against the likes of Oleksandr Usyk or Tyson Fury, he readily accepts his place (and the check), shows up and goes to work.
Like old school fighters used to.
Contrast this with Terence 'No Smoke' Crawford, who seemingly believes he's always the A-Side, even when he's not. A guy whose own promoter told the world that he doesn't draw money and has lost enough money to buy a house out in Beverly Hills ("nice house"). Who then sued said promoter for racism despite that promoter having made plenty of African American and other non-Caucasian origin fighters millions of dollars.
Fast forward and we hear that a welterweight unification - a FULL unification - is upon us. Errol 'The Truth' Spence vs. Terence 'No Smoke' Crawford.
The story had been that Crawford would not want to fight the best version of Spence; so obviously this created excitement in the industry. Spence dispatches Yordenis Ugas in brutal fashion to unify 3 of the titles to Crawford's one; Crawford makes 'Showtime' Shawn Porter lose focus and causes Kenny Porter to stop the fight prematurely; which gives ESPN and others the excuse to declare Crawford #.1 P4P, which adds fuel to the fire.
We then hear that Crawford is going to fight David Avenesyan, a decent B-level fighter.
The problem is, with the exception of Porter and possibly Kell Brook, that's all Crawford has fought at 147, is B-level fighters. The demand of him was to step up and fight the top guy - which isn't him, by the way.
Porter was a top guy, but as we learned after the fight, he was dealing with two bad hips and mentally already ready for retirement, plus drama with his dad that got in the way of a fight that Porter arguably took minimum 6 rounds in at the point of the stoppage.
Kell Brook was a top guy with significant damage to his face, courtesy of Golovkin and that same Errol Spence, many years prior. His lack of punch resistance stopped us from seeing a true resolution to a fight where Kell arguably won all four rounds and started closing Crawford's eye.
It's an indictment on Crawford that the man formerly known as 'Del Boy' has been willing to get fights done by accepting his B-Side status, yet Crawford still refuses to, and certain fans excuse it. The result: Fury and Chisora III selling out an arena simply because the fans love to see Chisora despite his losses.
Remember, Fury didn't sell out with 'All In' Wallin.
'WAR' Chisora should be respected for wanting to be that warrior.
'No Smoke' Crawford deserves no respect for refusing to.
We've heard it all before.
But here's the thing: now that Chisora is essentially a veteran and the guy people call when they need a tough dance partner that they're fairly certain to beat, he holds a singular advantage over almost every other fighter in the game today.
Chisora has given all but one of his opponents he's fought, a tough night. Chisora's resume is a who's who of the prior and current generations, having tangled with everyone except the slim few punchers like Wilder and Ortiz, and never crossing paths with the likes of Breezy, Stiverne and 'Prince' Charles Martin.
But in almost every fight near the end of his storied career, Chisora has (happily) been the B-Side. He wants to get paid; he knows he draws money, but when he's up against the likes of Oleksandr Usyk or Tyson Fury, he readily accepts his place (and the check), shows up and goes to work.
Like old school fighters used to.
Contrast this with Terence 'No Smoke' Crawford, who seemingly believes he's always the A-Side, even when he's not. A guy whose own promoter told the world that he doesn't draw money and has lost enough money to buy a house out in Beverly Hills ("nice house"). Who then sued said promoter for racism despite that promoter having made plenty of African American and other non-Caucasian origin fighters millions of dollars.
Fast forward and we hear that a welterweight unification - a FULL unification - is upon us. Errol 'The Truth' Spence vs. Terence 'No Smoke' Crawford.
The story had been that Crawford would not want to fight the best version of Spence; so obviously this created excitement in the industry. Spence dispatches Yordenis Ugas in brutal fashion to unify 3 of the titles to Crawford's one; Crawford makes 'Showtime' Shawn Porter lose focus and causes Kenny Porter to stop the fight prematurely; which gives ESPN and others the excuse to declare Crawford #.1 P4P, which adds fuel to the fire.
We then hear that Crawford is going to fight David Avenesyan, a decent B-level fighter.
The problem is, with the exception of Porter and possibly Kell Brook, that's all Crawford has fought at 147, is B-level fighters. The demand of him was to step up and fight the top guy - which isn't him, by the way.
Porter was a top guy, but as we learned after the fight, he was dealing with two bad hips and mentally already ready for retirement, plus drama with his dad that got in the way of a fight that Porter arguably took minimum 6 rounds in at the point of the stoppage.
Kell Brook was a top guy with significant damage to his face, courtesy of Golovkin and that same Errol Spence, many years prior. His lack of punch resistance stopped us from seeing a true resolution to a fight where Kell arguably won all four rounds and started closing Crawford's eye.
It's an indictment on Crawford that the man formerly known as 'Del Boy' has been willing to get fights done by accepting his B-Side status, yet Crawford still refuses to, and certain fans excuse it. The result: Fury and Chisora III selling out an arena simply because the fans love to see Chisora despite his losses.
Remember, Fury didn't sell out with 'All In' Wallin.
'WAR' Chisora should be respected for wanting to be that warrior.
'No Smoke' Crawford deserves no respect for refusing to.
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