By Cliff Rold
We already know that one pairing can deliver. Saturday, we’ll find out about the other. Heading into both, it’s fair to say regional rivalries are often something to look forward to. United Kingdom fans have a healthy pair on tap.
US fans will have easy access to both.
In a surprise move, Showtime announced they would air the heavyweight rematch between Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora (5:30 PM EST) live from the 02 Arena. It’s a boon for the network. The first Whyte-Chisora fight in 2016 was one of that’s year’s best. Both big men exhausted themselves in a brawl that enhanced the standing of Whyte and rejuvenated the career of Chisora.
Whyte (24-1, 17 KO) has won eight straight since a loss to Anthony Joshua and has stayed busy since the Chisora win. Most notably, in his last fight Whyte dropped former heavyweight titlist Joseph Parker twice and survived a final round knockdown for the best win of his career. It wasn’t quite the consistent thriller the first Chisora fight was but that would have been a high bar to clear.
Chisora (29-8, 21 KO) being in this position is a bit of an upset before he even gets a second crack at the favored Whyte. It’s been almost seven years since Chisora lost to Vitali Klitschko while etching himself as a character to follow on the world stage. While a decision loss to Robert Helenius was widely debated, Klitschko ultimately was the third of what would be four losses in five fights. The last of those, a stoppage at the hands of David Haye, was the worst.
Chisora put together a modest win streak of five fights before a rematch with the first man to defeat him, then future heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. Their rematch was a dull affair stopped in the Chisora corner after ten rounds. He’s lost three more times since but the first Whyte fight was the sort that makes a fighter valuable, win or lose. A victory over Carlos Takam earlier this year might have been the most relentless heavyweight action fight in 2018.
While Chisora was born in Zimbabwe, and Whyte in Jamaica, their boxing identities were forged in the UK and the O2 Arena will be full and frenzied by the time the opening bell rings. Part of that is the memory of the first fight. Another part is that these men are playing to their crowd, in their haunts, with the extra bragging rights that can only be earned in such an environment.
The checks don’t hurt either.
They aren’t entertaining the locals for free.
They won’t be playing for free four hours away at the Manchester Arena either. Almost all the way down the scale, British IBF featherweight titlist Josh Warrington (27-0, 6 KO) will attempt his first title defense against former Jr. featherweight and featherweight titlist Carl Frampton (26-1, 15 KO). While technically part of the same nation, Northern Ireland versus natives of Great Britain remains an intense regional rivalry. ESPN+ begins coverage of the show early (3 PM EST) but it would be no surprise if both main events air close to each other.
The energy of both crowds will likely make both encounters memorable even before the opening bell. If the heavyweights are about seeing if they can repeat the feat of their first contest, Warrington-Frampton is a test of whether there is a new factor at featherweight or whether the status quo remains.
Right now, Gary Russell Jr. and the only man to defeat Frampton in two fights so far, Leo Santa Cruz, largely occupy the top of the featherweight class. Warrington’s belt makes him a player but a title win over Lee Selby only checks the first box. A win over Frampton would inch him towards real recognition globally.
Locally, it would make him an even hotter ticket in an already hot UK boxing market. That matters more on a fight-to-fight basis than who knows his name away from home. Warrington’s boxing fortunes will largely be made closer to home just as Frampton’s has been for the bulk of his career.
The winner of this featherweight fight will walk down the street in the days after the bout with the extra joy of having beaten someone who means a little bit more to the man on the street.
It’s part of the extra fun that comes from a good regional rivalry. We have two of them this Saturday meaning boxing’s calendar is still far from complete.
Cliff’s Notes…
Saul Alvarez did what he was supposed to do last weekend. It delivered for the Garden. Did it deliver for DAZN? We used to have ratings but in the age of streams how well things are going is harder to gauge…The CW is going to do a version of Crisis on Infinite Earths. Any comics geek has to smile at the attempt even if they don’t stick the landing…Speaking of comics geek stuff, caught an early screening of Aquaman and it is an absolute blast. The story is about what one would expect from an origin movie but the visual are worth seeing more than once. James Wan delivered on spectacle and imagination…While neither is matched in a way that suggests imminent danger, the Charlo brothers doubleheader on Fox promises some action and, at the very least, some potential work for the censors in the post-fight interviews…Anthony Joshua-Jarrell Miller doesn’t excite much but it wouldn’t be a bad idea for a US debut in the absence of a fight everyone really wants to see…The BWAA Fight of the Year nominees are out. Of all categories, this one always seems to drop too early. This weekend’s clashes, and Donnie Nietes-Kazuto Ioka, all still remain in 2018. Can anyone be sure we’ve seen the years’ best fight yet.
Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
