Dereck Chisora was scheduled to fight Joseph Parker this weekend, but an illness caused by a spider bite forced the New Zealander to pull out at late notice.

Stepping in is David Price, a more than adequate opponent coming off a great win over Dave Allen in July.

While these heavyweights are both among the most popular in Britain, Chisora has become a cult hero in the past few years thanks to his gritty performances and the occasional press conference meltdown.

The 35-year-old has enjoyed a resurgence after nearly beating Dillian Whyte in 2016 in one of the greatest British fights ever.

Chisora has won five of seven fights since then, losing only to Whyte in a rematch and to Agit Kabayel by majority decision in November 2017.

Arguably his finest display came in July 2018 against Carlos Takam, as he sucked up the pressure early on and started to turn the fight around before scoring an eighth-round knockout.

Chisora’s plan for this fight should be similar. He’ll likely spend the first few rounds trying to work his way around Price’s long jab, and then look to tire out the Liverpudlian, who has had stamina problems for years.

Price’s domination of Allen in July was his third successive victory and his best performance since he was knocking opponents out for fun back in 2011.

The former British and Commonwealth champion did, however, lose back-to-back fights to Sergey Kuzmin and Alexander Povetkin in 2018, both inside five rounds.

A seventh-round TKO defeat to Christian Hammer also revealed Price’s fatal flaws.

He looked dangerous early on and had the Romanian on the canvas in the fifth round, but Price’s energy slowly seeped away as the bout went on and it was called off in the seventh as he could barely stand.

Perhaps he has since fixed that part of his game, but the win over Allen proved very little as nothing dangerous was coming back.

Chisora presents a much sterner test, and his chin, gas tank and experience mean he is perfectly suited to expose Price once again.

There’s always a danger Chisora will disappoint when he lacks motivation, but he’s managed to produce his best performances in big fights over the past few years and looks a good bet to earn a win inside the distance on Saturday.

Chisora to win by KO, TKO or disqualification

Chisora to win in rounds 7-9

#BetYourWay: Price to be knocked down in rounds 1-6

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