The Zimbabwe Independent

Fury back with Del Boy bout

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TYSon Fury's trilogy bout against Derek Chisora on December 3 has been officially confirmed, but boxing fans have been left less than impressed by the announceme­nt.

The heavyweigh­t duo, who have shared the ring on two prior occasions, will square off once more at the Tottenham hotspur Stadium.

WBC champion Fury — who looked set for mammoth bouts against oleksandr Usyk or anthony Joshua — returns to the ring for the first time since emphatical­ly knocking out Dillian Whyte at Wembley Stadium in april.

Fury, 34, had been in discussion­s to fight bitter rival Joshua in a mouthwater­ing and long-awaited match-up, offering the latter a golden ticket following his back-to-back defeats to Usyk

Those negotiatio­ns ultimately proved futile, however, and instead the Gypsy King will fight Chisora, or 'Del Boy', for a third time, having outpointed him in 2011 and stopped him three years later.

Fury, taking to social media to announce the news, wrote: 'Let's have it then Del Boy! See you December 3rd London!' an official announceme­nt press conference is set to be held later on Thursday afternoon.

Chisora comes into the bout on the back of an impressive points win over an aged Kubrat Pulev earlier in the year, but at 38 years old — and having lost to Fury twice before — the match-up has received fierce backlash online.

one enraged boxing fan took to Twitter write: 'This is why the guy is a fraud.

'You can rate him however you like but it's the cherry-picks, pulling out of fights, fake negotiatio­ns where he sets deadlines and then goes another way, the constant lying. he's a terrible champion.'

another wrote: 'Whatever your thoughts of the possible outcome of aJ v Fury, this is an awful awful fight to make instead. absolute con job especially on BT PPv.'

again reacting to Fury's failed negotiatio­ns to fight Joshua, another wrote: 'happy to to wait all this time to sort contracts for Chisora but unwilling to wait for aJ.'

Commenting on their previous battles — if you can call them that — another stated: 'Such a dead fight, what is the point of this? The first two fights weren't even competitiv­e.'

Though the impending bout is one few, if any, wanted, should Fury prevail as expected the hopes of an historic undisputed bout against Ukrainian mastermind Usyk will resume. however, Usyk, like the majority of those reacting to the fight announceme­nt, has been left frustrated by Fury's decision to hold a bout in December.

Usyk, the former undisputed cruiserwei­ght champion and now WBa, WBo and IBF heavyweigh­t titleholde­r, will return to action in 2023 after heading back to Ukraine following his win over Joshua.

The 35-year-old in September insisted he will now look elsewhere. and asked who he would want, the Ukrainian replied: 'Deontay Wilder.

'Wilder is a dangerous fighter, and that fight would most likely be in the United States.'

of course, Wilder is now set to fight andy Ruiz Jr in a WBC title-eliminator, meaning after Fury completes his trilogy with Chisora, his next bout could be a fourth encounter with the Bronze Bomber.

Fury's UK promoter Frank Warren, upon the announceme­nt of the fight, insisted the Gypsy King must remain fully focused.

'Tyson can't afford any slip-up in this fight as he has the much-publicised undisputed match-up with Usyk in the new year which we're really looking forward to,' he said.

US promoter Bob arum added: 'Whenever Tyson Fury fights, it is a major event, and I expect him to once again put on a spectacula­r show for the fans.

'There are talks about what's next for Tyson, but the first order of business is a battle against an extraordin­arily tough fighter in Derek Chisora.' — dailymail.

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