Joe Joyce vs Dereck Chisora Preview July 27th, 2024
Joe Joyce is back in action this Saturday, July 27th when he takes on Dereck Chisora of Zimbabwe in Joyce’s hometown of London, England. The 12-round heavyweight tilt can be seen live in America on ESPN+ while fans in the UK and Ireland can catch it on TNT Sports 1. Joyce last fought in March when he stopped Kash Ali in the 10th round while Chisora, who also fights out of England, was last in the ring in August when he beat Gerald Washington via a 10-round unanimous decision. In Joyce’s previous bout he was stopped in the third round by Zhilei Zhang in a rematch after first meeting four months earlier with Zhang taking the WBO Interim belt when the doctor stopped the fight in the sixth round due to Joyce’s damaged right eye. Joyce had won the vacant WBO Interim Title by stopping former world champion Joseph Parker in the 11th round in a highly-entertaining fight. Parker then beat Zhang by majority decision to take the WBO Interim Belt.
Joyce vs Chisora Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Dereck Chisora +325
- Joe Joyce -450
My Pick
The 38-year-old Joyce didn’t turn pro until late in 2017 after a fine amateur career which saw him win gold medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2015 European Games. He also took home a silver from the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the super-heavyweight division when he lost the gold-medal match to Tony Yoka of France. Joyce owns a pro record of 16-2 with 15 wins coming by way of knockout.
He stands 6-feet-6-inches tall with an 80-inch reach and it’s obvious he has some power in his fists as 93.7 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage. His opponents so far have been Zhang (twice), former World Champion Joseph Parker, Christian Hammer, Carlos Takam, Daniel Dubois, Michael Wallisch, Bryant Jennings, Alexander Ustinov, former WBC World Champion Bermane Stiverne, Ian Lewison, Rudolf Jozic, Donnie Palmer, Lenroy Thomas, Ivica Bacurin, Iago Kiladze and Joe Hanks.
It may not be the cream of the crop in the heavyweight division but it’s a solid list and each one of his opponents had a winning record. Joyce has also won several WBC and WBO minor belts as he captured the British, European and Commonwealth Titles when he halted young prospect Daniel Dubois in the 10th round in 2020. He also won the vacant WBA Continental Heavyweight Belt when he beat Hanks in 2018.
Joyce’s boxing skills haven’t had a chance to be showcased very often though as he has four first-round Ko’s as well as one in the second and two in the third and has boxed just 93 rounds since turning pro. The only time he’s gone the distance was against Bryant, who lasted 12 rounds in July, 2019 but dropped a unanimous decision. Even though he was stopped twice by Zhang, Joyce owns a pretty good chin as Parker nailed him with some bombs in 2022 and he took them well. However, his eye worsened against Zhang round after round as Joyce absorbed some punishing jabs and left hands.
The 40-year-old Chisora climbs into the ring with a mark of 34-13 with 23 Ko’s. Along with losing a trio of bouts to Tyson Fury (twice by stoppage), he was beaten twice by Dillian Whyte as he was stopped in the 11th round of a slugfest in December, 2018 and dropped a 12-round split decision to him two years earlier. And more recently, he lost for the second time to former heavyweight titleholder Joseph Parker as he dropped a 12-round unanimous decision in December, 2021 after losing a split decision to him seven months earlier.
His other losses came via a fifth-round TKO to David Haye in 2012, a unanimous decision to world champ Vitali Klitschko five months earlier and a 12-round split decision to Robert Helenius three months before that for three straight defeats. Chisora was also beaten by Kubrat Pulev in May, 2017 and by Agit Kabayel via a majority decision in November, 2017 and dropped a unanimous decision to Oleksandr Usyk in October, 2020. However, he avenged the loss to Pulev via a 12-round split decision last July in one of his best career performances.
Chisora stands just over 6-feet-1-inch tall and has a 74-inch wingspan so gives up about five inches in height and six inches in reach to Joyce. He may be a bit more skilled than people give him credit for as he can throw decent combinations when he’s in a rhythm but often leaves himself exposed to counter shots. His biggest wins have been over Pulev, Artur Szpilka, Carlos Takam, Malik Scott and Kevin Johnson. He has plenty of experience against top-notch opposition but usually falls short when stepping up in class with the exceptions being against Takam and Pulev.
Chisora has captured the WBA International and WBO International, WBA Inter-Continental and British Heavyweight Titles as a pro and has boxed 324 rounds since making his debut in 2007. He has pretty good power as 67.6 per cent of he wins have come by stoppage but hasn’t halted anybody since his TKO over David Price in four rounds in 2019. When Chisora’s motivated he can be pretty exciting by giving and taking all night long and can be a handful for anybody on the world stage but he sometimes runs out of steam as the fight goes on.
Prediction…
Joyce hasn’t looked very good in his last three fights as he was stopped twice by Zhang and was lethargic against Kash Ali. He’ll need to step it up against the rough and tumble Chisora or will drop his third fight in the last four outings. He’ll need to be focused and use his size against Chisora, who’s usually not gun shy, I expect both boxers to have their moments but Joyce should be able to do enough to earn a win as long as he’s fully focused.
Joyce’s power and size should be the difference.
Play Joyce -450 @ BetOnline.ag
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Dereck Chisora betting • Joe Joyce betting