Derek Chisora reveals left-field pick for hardest-hitting opponent faced during career

Derek Chisora states that the hardest-hitting opponent he has faced is the relatively unknown Darren ‘Welsh Beef’ Morgan who boxed ‘Del Boy’ during the fledgling stages of his career. Chisora has long been heralded for his durability inside the ropes having only been stopped three times in 44 professional fights despite facing some of the biggest punchers in the sport.

The London-based heavyweight has boxed the likes of Vitali Klitschko, David Haye, and Tyson Fury over his 15 years in the sport but claims Morgan hit harder than all of those names. When asked by talkSPORT who hit the hardest, he simply replied, “the Welsh Beef”, in reference to the heavy-handed Welshman. Chisora faced Morgan in the third fight of his professional career at York Hall, London.

A young Chisora was never knocked down by Morgan during their fight but claims the concussive nature of the punches was enough for him to take the mantle. The 6-foot-1 Swansea boxer was 5-1 at the time having recently tasted his first defeat against Martin Rogan in his previous bout. Chisora and Morgan went the full four-round distance that night with referee Bob William’s scorecard reading 40-36 to ‘Del Boy’.

Morgan retired from boxing in 2014 with a record of 8-5 with six of those wins coming by way of knockout. He was never knocked out in all his outings.

He said: “I think I last won a fight three years ago. It was hard. Pulev’s a great fighter. I’m happy today. At the same time, I’m sad. I don’t have many left in me, but what I have, I’m gonna give it all to you guys. I don’t have many left.

“I don’t want easy fights. I told Eddie [Hearn] the other day, if you can get me the ‘Bronze Bomber’ [Deontay Wilder], I’ll be happy.”