Deontay Wilder beats battling Derek Chisora as epic bout goes the distance | Boxing
Deontay Wilder condemned British heavyweight Derek Chisora to defeat in his last fight, but only after an exhilarating bout from the Fight of the Year contender in a raucous O.2 Arena. In the 50th fight of Chisora’s eventful professional career, Del Boy displayed remarkable recovery ability to come back from a punishing eighth round and take the former WBC champion the distance in south-east London.
After the American showed early on the power that made him one of the most fearsome punchers in heavyweight history, Chisora’s farewell threatened to turn into a nightmare in a one-sided departure.
However, Chisora came back in sensational fashion in a thrilling fourth and, after rising from the canvas in the eighth round, the 42-year-old managed to earn a hero’s welcome before, during and after the final three minutes of his journey to the professional ranks.
It wasn’t enough to seal one last win in Chisora after the judges scored the fight 115-111, 112-115 and 115-113 in Wilder’s favor to earn the Bronze Bomber a split decision triumph, which could put his name back in the mix for the division’s biggest fights.
Chisora lived up to his man-of-the-people tag by taking the London Underground to O2 Arena and he was quickly greeted by his “little brother” Anthony Joshua, who made a first surprise public outing since he was involved in a car crash in December that killed two of his close friends.
The sound of the first bell signaled the start of a fight and Chisora immediately stalked Wilder, but was caught by an uppercut and the duo almost fell over the ropes after another close call.
The second round followed a similar storyline, with Chisora going after Wilder and being caught by a nifty combination in the corner before a trip from the British boxer was brushed aside.
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Price defeats Pineiro to retain titles
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Lauren Price survived the toughest test of her professional career to retain her three welterweight world titles with a unanimous points victory over Stephanie Pineiro. Price retained her WBA, WBC and IBF belts by comfortable margins of 98-92, 98-92, 99-91 on all three judges’ scorecards, but the 31-year-old was in a bloody disaster at the end of the 10-round contest in Cardiff.
The undefeated Welsh fighter suffered a nasty mouth injury with blood flowing from it profusely in the fifth round, with Price claiming at the end of the fight that her lip had been cut by a clash of heads.
Price, returning to Welsh soil for the first time since winning her maiden world title against Jessica McCaskill in May 2024, deepened her biggest test to retain her belts. Four-weight world champion Claressa Shields was alongside the American to meet Price later this year or early in 2027. PA Media
In his farewell fight, Chisora survived until the bell, but another big blow and a miss allowed Wilder to wear down his rival even more. Chisora remonstrated with the referee, Mark Bates, late in the third before the tables turned when a slide from Wilder was followed by a huge right hook to the American’s face to spark a huge roar around the O.2 Arena.
Another came when Chisora delivered a huge right in the fourth to rattle Wilder, who was grateful to have some breathing space on his stand.
A messy fifth round had an exhausted Chisora on the canvas twice, but neither did knockdowns and he then had more success with a right overhand. Wilder regained some semblance of control in the sixth after Chisora plunged his head into trouble before both boxers fell after another fight in a low-key seventh.
However, a sensational eighth caught fire with Chisora on the verge of being stopped after Wilder finally sent him to the floor, but Del Boy beat the count and showed incredible determination to go from backpedaling to remarkably forcing Wilder into the ropes. Wilder also had a point taken away as Rocky’s theme music rightly echoed through the arena.
Another ninth was backed by Wilder trying and failing to field his rival in a round 10 that ended with a looping right landing from Chisora. Chisora was almost through the ropes again midway through the 11th round before Wilder was down, but neither counted as a knockdown.
Even though the entire crowd was on their feet during the final three minutes of Chisora’s career, there was no stopping before the British fans’ favorite was given one final serenade.
