Deontay Wilder reveals what he said to Derek Chisora after refusing to ‘hurt’ rival

Deontay Wilder insisted he decided not to knock out Derek Chisora in their heavyweight showdown having told his rival he wants him to ‘live for his kids’ rather inflict more punishment.

‘The Bronze Bomber’ secured a split decision victory over the Briton at London’s O2 Arena after 12 gruelling rounds.

In what was the 50th professional fight in the careers of both men, each absorbed huge punishment in a brutal battle that may have lacked finesse but delivered in drama.

In a remarkable eighth round, Chisora landed a massive right hand on Wilder but the American responded with a blistering attack that sent his opponent backpeddling across the ring, landing clubbing blows to the side of his head and almost sending him through the ropes.

It was judged a knockdown with Chisora making the referee’s count.

Wilder appeared to have the opportunity to land more shots and finish his opponent as the action resumed but hesitated, saying something to his opponent that was not clearly picked up on ringside microphones.

Speaking after the fight, Wilder said he deliberately changed his tactics to avoid hurting ‘his brother’ in his final fight.

Wilder told DAZN: ‘I was saying to him in the ring as I started to see his eye swell and his temple start to blow up a bit, I said “bro, you have got to live for your kids.

I don’t want to hurt you too much longer.”
‘So I started having fun a little bit because I saw my brother starting to get hurt and I saw the weakness in his eyes a little bit.

‘So us fighters have to look after each other and tonight I looked after Derek.

I didn’t want to go too hard on him because I saw his veins coming out of his head.

And I want him to live for his kids.