In a bruising, last-chance saloon heavyweight clash, Deontay Wilder lived to fight another day, as he took a split decision win over 12 rounds against Derek Chisora at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday,
Former WBC champion Wilder (45-4-1, 43 KOs) dropped his title to Tyson Fury in 2021, and subsequently lost to Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang, but was coming off a seventh round stoppage of Tyrrell Herndon last June, while Chisora (36-14, 23 KOs) had won three on the spin since losing to Fury in 2022.
In a wild opening round, Chisora was lucky not to be disqualified as his corner entered the ring after Wilder almost shoved their man over the top rope, and the second saw the home favourite staggered by a volley of heavy punches from the American.
Chisora did land a decent right hand in the round, and the referee seemed to be giving the 42-year-old some leniency in the third as Wilder continued his attack.
In a scrappy affair, Chisora got the better of round four, but Wilder had the better of the fifth, and the Briton was standing up to the pressure from his opponent as the, contest reached the halfway mark. In round seven, Wilder tried to establish his jab, but was off with his accuracy, as he struggled to pin Chisora down.
The breakthrough came in the eighth for ’The Bronze Bomber, as after taking a hard right from Chisora, he replied with a steady assault in the corner that forced Chisora to the canvas, and he was badly hurt but bravely saw out the round, with Wilder docked a point for pushing.
Chisora rallied, backing up Wilder in round nine and landing some huge shots in the 10th, but he was on the end of a barrage in the penultimate session, forced through the ropes and well on top as the contest went into the final frame.
Wilder landed a nice uppercut, but Chisora responded, and the two exchanged to the final bell to leave the fight in the balance.
One judge had it 115-112 to Chisora, overruled by scores of 115-113 and 115-111 for Wilder to hand the visitor the win.
Riley wins European title
Viddal Riley moved a step closer to world honours, and became the new European cruiserweight champion, as he took a wide points win against former world title challenger, Mateusz Masternak (50-7, 33 KOs).
Riley (14-0, 7 KOs) was dominant throughout, and emerged the winner by one score of 119-109, and two scores of 118-110.
View this post on Instagram
Bentley stops Saavedra
Denzel Bentley became WBO interim middleweight champion, as he scored a seventh-round stoppage win against Endry Saavedra.
Bentley (22-3-1, 18 KOs) launched a two-fisted assault with Saavedra (17-2-1, 14 KOs) in retreat, and as the visitor sagged towards the ropes, the referee waved the contest off.
Remaining Undercard
In eight-rounders, Ashton Sylve (13-1, 10 KOs) took a points win at super lightweight against Raul Antionio Galaviz Hernandez (15-5-2, 9 KOs), and Matty Harris (10-1, 7 KOs) was a second-round winner against Franklin Ignatius (9-2-1, 1 KO) at heavyweight.
At middleweight, Amir Anderson (7-0, 7 KOs) stayed perfect, as he stopped Jordan Dujon (10-7) in the final round of their middleweight meeting.
Jermaine Dhilwayo (9-0, KO4) claimed a seventh round stoppage at super featherweight against Jake Morgan (7-3, 1 KO).
In the sole six-rounder on the card, Dan Toward (8-1, 6 KOs) was a third-round winner against Misael Da Veiga (7-1, 2 KOs) at super welterweight, and at featherweight, Tom Welland (10-1, 5 KOs) was a points victor over four rounds against Yahir Alexander Solorio Morales (6-23-5, 2 KOs).
The post Derek Chisora vs Deontay Wilder – Results & Post-Fight Report appeared first on ProBoxing-Fans.com.