Hampstead heavyweight Dereck Chisora says he has no plans to fight Anthony Joshua at the moment because he has big fights lined up in Germany at the start of 2016.

The 31-year-old, who lives in Hampstead Garden Suburb, continued his quest to return to the big time with a comfortable third- round stoppage against Croatia’s Jakov Gospic on the undercard of Joshua’s showdown with Dillian Whyte at the O2 Arena in North Greenwich on Saturday.

It was the former British, Commonwealth and European champion’s second outing in a week after he registered a fifth-round technical knock-out against Hungary’s Peter Erdos in Wilhelmsburg, Germany, on December 5.

Meanwhile Joshua, who was formerly an amateur at Finchley ABC, secured a thrilling seventh-round knock-out against his arch enemy Whyte, adding the British title to his Commonwealth crown – and he then announced that he would love to face Chisora in his next bout, which is pencilled in for April 9 at The O2.

But Chisora has different plans after recently signing a promotional deal with premier German promoters Team Sauerland, who are run by former Kilburn schoolboys Kalle and Nisse Sauerland. They have dates lined up for him in January and February.

“Right now let the guy [Joshua] do what he is doing,” said Chisora. “We’ve gone to Germany. Right now we’re fighting in Germany and there’s big fights I want to do in Germany before I come back here.”

‘Del Boy’ Chisora, who trains at St Pancras Boxing Club in Kentish Town with a team headed by the vastly experienced coach Gary Innes, forced Gospic to sink to the corner of the canvas with a powerful body shot, followed by an uppercut and clubbing right hand on Saturday – and referee Bob Williams halted the contest in the third round.

Chisora, who has improved his record to 24 victories in 29 bouts, was satisfied with his evening’s work, saying: “I enjoyed it. I was more relaxed in the ring.

“Everyone comes to watch the heavyweights and they always want knockouts but it didn’t happen. Overall it was good and I just enjoyed it. I just plugged through and used my jab. The guy didn’t come to fight. When I put the pressure on him he started folding.”