Tyson Fury will defend his world heavyweight title in an all-British trilogy fight against Derek Chisora in London on December 3 after the collapse of talks for a prospective showdown with Anthony Joshua.
The bout against Chisora, whom Fury beat in 2011 and 2014, will be the “Gypsy King’s” first outing since a sixth-round stoppage of another domestic rival, Dillian Whyte, in April.
The unbeaten Fury, whose WBC belt will be on the line at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, tweeted ,“Let’s have it then Del Boy!!! See you December 3rd, London!”.
The plan is to use the fight with Chisora, 38, to tune up for a proposed unification bout with Oleksandr Usyk, who beat Joshua for the second time in August.
The Ukrainian, who holds the IBF, WBA and WBO titles, previously indicated he had no desire to fight until next year.
The December contest does not have the allure of a blue-riband showdown with Joshua but Fury praised Chisora, who lost a points decision to Usyk in October 2020, for coming forward.
“I’m not trying to sell this fight,” he said, “I have offered the big guys the fights and they don’t want the smoke.
“I rate Chisora as highly as I do Usyk, so I will train like he is the hardest fight in the world.
“His style has changed but so has mine. I used to jib and jab and now I am a destroyer. So someone is getting knocked out.
“If he lands a big swing on me I am getting knocked out and vice versa, so the fans are in for a treat.”
Fury has beaten Chisora twice before, via a unanimous decision at Wembley in July 2011 and a retirement win three years later at London’s ExCel.
Chisora last fought in July, beating Kubrat Pulev in a split decision at London’s O2 arena.
The announcement follows the collapse of talks for a prospective fight between Fury and former world heavyweight champion Joshua earlier this month.
Fury, the overwhelming favourite, said he would respect Chisora but was confident of victory.
“He has fought the best of this generation and most of his losses have been to world champions, past, present or future,” he said.
“But I just don’t think he can beat me. I will beat Chisora and then the little middleweight guy (Usyk).”
