Dereck Chisora vs Joseph Parker Preview, Tips, Odds & Prediction

The main card looks set to kick off with the hard hitting Irish lightweight James Tennyson taking on the durable Mexican Jovanni Straffon for the vacant IBO World Lightweight Title.

A world title challenger at super featherweight, Tennyson has been faultless since stepping up to the 135lbs lightweight division with five straight stoppage victories at the weight boxing just a combined 22 rounds in the process.

Having turned professional at 130lbs, Straffon has mainly floated between lightweight and super lightweight since with 23 wins, three losses and a draw coming from his 26 bouts in the paid ranks to date. He's been through a notoriously tough apprenticeship as a professional in Mexico and he's shown he does carry some sort of power with 16 stoppage wins from those 23 victories.

With big fights looming for Tennyson if he gets past Straffon, the Irishman will be looking to make a big statement here and with a stoppage victory he will do exactly that. Expect Straffon to stand with him early on though and Tennyson, unlike most of his other fights at the weight, may have to bide his time similar to what he did against Craig Evans and Gavin Gwynne and get on the back foot and try to break the tough Mexican down which we believe eventually he will do.

Prediction: James Tennyson to win between rounds 7-12

This weekend sees the much anticipated return of Chris Eubank Jr after nearly 18 months out of the ring as he takes on Manchester's very own Marcus Morrison in an exciting middleweight clash.

Eubank Jr has had a pretty successful career so far claiming 29 wins from 31 fights with the two losses on his record coming at the hands of Billy Joe Saunders and then in the World Boxing Super Series against the then WBA Super Middleweight champ George Groves.

His last victory came in bizarre fashion though when winning the WBA Interim Middleweight crown against Matt Korobov, only because Korobov had torn his left rotator cuff meaning he had to pull out of the fight in round two however it did go down as a TKO for Eubank.

Morrison meanwhile has had a 26 fight career full of mixed emotions. After going unbeaten in his first 14 fights in the pro ranks and being highly touted as one of the biggest prospects in British boxing, he came unstuck against Jason Welborn to lose his unbeaten record. He then went 2-2 from his next four fights with defeats to journeymen Tyan Booth & Alistair Warren but he's now on the road back having won his last seven fights including an emphatic knockout of Emanuele Blandamura for the WBC International Silver Middleweight Title.

With the carrot dangling of a big money fight against the likes of Canelo Alvarez, Billy Joe Saunders or even Liam Williams, this is a fight Eubank Jr cannot afford to lose. He's got an engine, he's got a heck of a chin and most of all, he can punch, especially at 160lbs and that all combined may just be a little too much Morrison who has proved in the past though that he cannot be written off. However, this looks a little step too far for the Mancunian and with the new link up with Roy Jones Jr, we're backing Eubank Jr to do the business and look good in doing so.

Prediction: Chris Eubank Jr to win by KO/TKO/DQ

Now for a really exciting clash as the unbeaten Russian Dmitry Bivol takes on the hard hitting Brit Craig Richards for the WBA Super World Light Heavyweight Title.

A very good amateur with a record of around 268 victories from 283 fights, Bivol has taken to the paid ranks like a duck to water claiming the interim version of his current world title in just his seventh fight as a professional and then winning the full version of it in just his 12th bout against Australian Trent Broadhurst.

Stand out victories over the likes of Sullivan Barrera, Jean Pascal, Isaac Chilemba and the newly crowned WBO champ Joe Smith Jr has seen Bivol stake his claim as one of the best in the division and he'll be looking to maintain his unbeaten record against Richards.

The Brit meanwhile may not have the amateur or professional resume of Bivol but he certainly cannot be written off as he's shown in his most career defining fights to date. Having won his first 10 fights as a professional, he suffered a close points decision loss to Frank Buglioni for the British title, a fight in which he only got a weeks notice for.

Since then though, he's not looked back. Five stoppage victories from his last seven fights including a shock defeat of British champion Shakan Pitters in his last bout, the Peter Sims trained fighter has caught a second wind in his short career so far and he's full of momentum going in to the biggest fight of his career so far.

On paper, this looks an easy night for Bivol however we don't see it that way. The Russian has built up a reputation for his free flowing powerful style with power behind every punch but that's against opponents that tend to just stand there and trade with him, Richards won't do that. Expect the Londoner to use his solid jab and quick feet to make it difficult for Bivol to pin him down and if the Russian fails to hurt Richards early doors, we believe he'll get on the back foot and try to set traps for Richards and either outbox him or look to the land the highlight reel one punch KO. Bivol will likely have too much for the Brit but don't be surprised to see Richards put in a solid performance he can be proud of.

Prediction: Dmitry Bivol to win by decision or technical decision

What a fight this is as Ireland takes on England for the WBA, WBC, WBO & IBF Lightweight World Titles in a mouthwatering clash between two former amateur rivals.

After Taylor got the better of Jonas in the 2016 Olympics in Rio, their professional careers have been fairly different with Taylor winning all of her 16 bouts in the paid ranks which has seen her become the unified lightweight champion of the world whilst Jonas has claimed nine wins from her 11 fights with just an International title at super featherweight to show for it.

Taylor has been faultless of late claiming victories over Rose Volante, Christina Linardatou, Delfine Persoon (x2) & most recently Miriam Gutierrez in her past five fights however she has picked up just the one stoppage from her last seven.

The Scouse pocket rocket that is Natasha Jonas however has bounced back from a stoppage defeat to Viviane Obeneuf in 2018 with two stoppage victories from her last four bouts and many believe she was unlucky not to be crowned unified super featherweight champion of the world in her last fight when picking up a draw against Terri Harper. Inactivity has marred her career so far with two fights in two years but she'll be full of confidence heading in to this career defining bout with Taylor.

According to the bookies this is Katie Taylor's fight to lose but we're going for the underdog here and backing Jonas to do the business.

Taylor has started to show little signs in her past few fights that she may just be starting to go on the decline in her career. She was lucky to beat Persoon the first time and she hasn't looked herself since despite winning the rematch in pretty similar fashion. Jonas meanwhile looks to be the opposite and she looks like she's getting better with age and showed that in her exquisite performance against Harper.

The way Taylor has destroyed most of her opponents to date on points is by using her superior amateur boxing skill and her superior knowledge of how to box both on the inside and outside. This is probably her first fight in the pro's where she won't really have that advantage against a fighter with a solid amateur pedigree and most of all, a fighter who knows and has been obsessed with her since their clash in the Olympics. It's a new weight for Jonas but if she can carry the power up to lightweight and mix that up with her sharp combinations and nice footwork, we believe there will be a shock on the cards here.

Prediction: Natasha Jonas to win

Now for the biggy, Dereck Chisora vs Joseph Parker.

Two of the biggest most feared heavyweights on the planet going toe to toe in a fight where the winner will be back in world title contention but for the loser, well, it'll be a very long way back to the top.

Chisora has had a somewhat renaissance in his career over the past few years. After defeats to the likes of Tyson Fury, Vitali Klitschko, David Haye and Kubrat Pulev earlier on in his career, he's kind of just started to throw the kitchen sink at his opponents and become one of the most entertaining fighters in the division with his tough and strong march forward take two shots to give one big shot sort of style. He was unlucky not to get a decision against Dillian Whyte in 2016 but then was emphatically knocked out in the rematch a couple of years later. He was outclassed by Oleksandr Usyk last time out but he showed he's still got plenty left in that massive tank of his with a resilient performance.

The Kiwi Parker has had a much more quieter few years however. After beating eventual Anthony Joshua conquerer Andy Ruiz to win the WBO World Heavyweight Title back in 2016, Parker picked up wins against Razvan Cojanu and Hughie Fury before suffering his first loss to Joshua and losing his belt.

A fight of the year defeat to Dillian Whyte followed that but he's now on a four fight win streak with three KO's from those four bouts. His most recent victory came against domestic rival Junior Fa at the end of February where he claimed a unanimous but close points win.

What makes this fight so interesting for us is the recent changes both fighters have made to their camps. Dereck Chisora has teamed up with Buddy McGirt whilst Parker has left the man who took him to world domination Kevin Barry to team up with Andy Lee in Morecambe.

So how does the fight go? Well, it's pretty simple for us. By now, we know what we're getting with Chisora. Chin down, tight guard, looking for looping right and left hooks that could knock out the toughest of opponents if landed clean. Parker has got that sort of style in his locker however going off how rusty he looked in his last fight when looking for the big shot on Fa where he seemed to fall over his own shots a lot and smother his own work, the partnership with Andy Lee tells us he's going to be far more calculated off the back foot and instead of looking for the knockout punch, be much more patient with it.

Chisora will put it on Parker from the first bell as he did against Usyk but what Parker will do better than what Usyk is did is make Chisora respect his power. Expect the New Zealander to land some nice, fast, powerful combinations early on and break Chisora down methodically instead of one big punch and potentially get the late stoppage or more than likely win on points comfortably.

Prediction: Joseph Parker to win by Decision or Technical Decision