It was a brawl for it all and Deontay Wilder emerged with a split decision victory over England’s favorite son Derek “War” Chisora after 12 wild and crazy heavyweight rounds in raucous London, England on Saturday.
London was subdued by the decision.
“Man, what a fun night tonight,” said Wilder.
Former world champion Wilder (45-4-1, 43 Kos) defeated England’s popular warrior Chisora (36-14, 23 Kos) by a split-decision at the sold out O2 Arena in Greenwich. It was only the second time Wilder needed the score cards to decide the winner.
The crowd was standing through most of the final two rounds.
Experts had picked Chisora to defeat Wilder who had lost four out of his last six bouts. One reason mainly was Chisora’s ability to take a blow while Wilder’s chin was always in doubt.
The taller Wilder at 6’6” in height was giving up more than 50 pounds to the heavier and three inches shorter Chisora. The weight difference was expected to give the British fighter a solid advantage.
Wilder, 40, had been one of the more explosive punchers in heavyweight history but in his last six fights, the power and lack of accuracy seemed to have departed from his arsenal. Instead, he had lost to China’s Zhilei Zhang by knockout and Australia’s Joseph Parker by decision.
Few expected Wilder to reach the final round against Chisora.
“Many people doubted me. Threw dirt in my name,” Wilder said.
In the opening round both fighters looked determined to impose their wills. During a clinch against the ropes both grabbed and continued to punch while nearly dangling over the ropes. Attempts by the referee to stop them were futile and one of Wilder’s corner men ran into the ring illegally to help stop the entanglement. It could have ended the fight by disqualification.
From the second round on each heavyweight looked to end the fight with a single punch. Each favored the telegraphed overhand right. It seldom hit the target.
Wilder proved effective in covering up while inside and that prevented openings for Chisora’s power shots. Clinches inside proved effective for Wilder who hit whatever he could hit while entangled.
During almost every round the two would fire blows then end up tangled. Wilder had success when using his long left jab to score points. He also had some success with short crisp right counters.
The pivotal round emerged in the eighth when Chisora connected with a roundhouse right. The crowd roared with glee and the smaller heavier fighter moved in to follow up. Chisora ran into a short right counter and suddenly moved sideways from the unexpected blow. Wilder followed up with right after right and Chisora escaped by going backward. Wilder followed him eager to finish the job. A right connected and Chisora bent lower but found himself going through the ropes. A left by Wilder put Chisora through the ropes and it was counted as a knockdown. Wilder resumed on attack mode as the crowd came alive. Chisora survived.
“I came out of the ropes I don’t know why,” said Chisora about the knockdown.
Wilder claimed to have hurt Chisora more than once but took his foot off the gas pedal.
“I had a durable opponent. I knew Derek was going to come,” Wilder said of Chisora. “I don’t want to hurt him.”
In the last three rounds each connected with heavy shots. Chisora had great success when targeting the body and going to the head. Wilder had success using the left jab and left hook. He also had success with occasional right uppercuts against Chisora who advanced with his head down low.
After 12 rounds it was difficult to judge because of the constant entanglements. But one judge saw Chisora the winner 115-112 while two others scored it for Wilder 115-111 and 115-113.
“Derek is a warrior. He came like a lion to fight,” said Wilder.
Chisora said that it was his last fight and now he will retire.
“It is what it is. Thank you very much United Kingdom,” said Chisora who began boxing nearly 20 years ago. “I didn’t know I was going to be addicted to boxing.”
Other Bouts
In a battle between middleweight contenders Denzel Bentley (22-3-1, 18 Kos) knocked out Venezuela’s Endry Saavedra (17-2-1, 14 Kos) with a barrage of blows to force a stoppage at 1:38 of the seventh round. Both fighters are known for their knockout power and until the seventh round neither fighter could gain serious momentum. But England’s Bentley found an opening an unloaded a dozen blows that had Saavedra’s head snapping backward. Riley wins the EBU cruiserweight title.
Ashton Sylve (13-1, 10 Kos) used his speed and agility to out-box Raul Galaviz (15-5-2, 9 Kos) whose pressure style was unable to corral the always moving Sylve. After 10 rounds the judges favored Silve.
Matty Harris (10-1, 7 Kos) caught Franklin Ignatius (9-2-1, 1 KO) with a counter right for the knockout win in their heavyweight fight. The taller Harris connected with a short counter-right to the chin of Ignatius as he was on attack to end the match in the second round.
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