Derek Chisora bowed out of boxing with his 50th and final professional fight against former heavyweight world champion Deontay Wilder
Derek Chisora and Deontay Wilder clash
Derek Chisora was beaten by Deontay Wilder in his final bonkers, brutal and baffling fight.
The Brit was down twice while his American visitor also hit the canvas – but both men heard the final bell. It was Wilder who was given the nod on the cards with two of the three judges scoring the fight in his favour.
Chisora had made it clear his 50th professional fight would be his last and at times the action was so bad it was almost good. Both men – now in their 40s – looked their age and a shadow of their former selves.
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Chisora was accompanied by his family as he made his way to the venue by public transport. The 42-year-old brought his baby son Zion in his pushchair through the main entrance shoulder to shoulder with his adoring fans. Anthony Joshua took his seat at ringside in what was his first major public appearance since he was involved in a tragic car crash last December.
The former world champion gave his fellow countryman a pep talk before he walked to the ring. Chisora milked the crowd’s reception before staying true to his word and charging at Wilder from the first bell. At one point, the pair almost went over the top rope in a clinch as Chisora’s cornerman rushed into the ring in an attempt to separate the rivals.
Wilder’s tactics were clear; land the big right hand that had captured him the world title. But Chisora not only cushioned his blows but answered back with the same shot. Wilder was landing the better shots in the third session but Chisora was using his three-stone weight advantage to smother the American.
Through four rounds this fight represented exactly what it was; two men in their 40s who were long past their best. But every so often a right hand would land; first Wilder and then Chisora who seized the initiative and had Wilder in trouble at the end of the session.
The home favourite continued to plod forward and could sense Wilder was there for the taking in the fifth round. Wilder chopped away with both hands while Chisora was by now sporting a cut under his eye and ate a one-two clean at the halfway stage.
Both men crashed to the canvas at the end of the seventh as the fight began to resemble a wrestling match. Chisora cracked Wilder with a right hand in the eighth session which served only to provoke the American into a vicious response.
Chisora was bullied back to the ropes and ultimately dropped in his own corner. He beat the count before he was bundled back down – but this time Wilder was deducted a point to nullify his best round to date.
A quieter ninth was followed by a strong start to the 10th by Wilder. Chisora was content to play possum on the ropes but sparked into life in the second half of the round.
Chisora ate another right hand in the 11th round and was then sent halfway through the ropes, forcing the referee to count. But then Wilder was down seconds later as Chisora sensed a dramatic victory. Wilder, too, beat the count to ensure an unlikely final round.
There was to be no grandstand finish, however, despite Chisora’s best efforts to end the fight with his wild right hand.
Earlier, Denzel Bentley stopped Endry Saavedra in the seventh round to become the interim WBO middleweight world champion. Full champion Janibek Alimkhanuly has been suspended by the sanctioning body but allowed to keep his belt – despite being stripped of his IBF version.
And Bentley dismissed the notion his belt was inferior after his victory. “Drop the interim… I’m a world champion,” he said. “When I take this belt home my son is going to call me world champion.” In the co-main event, Viddal Riley outpointed Mateusz Masternak to add the European cruiserweight title to the British he strap he won last year.
