Derek Chisora denied fairytale ending in boxing swansong as Deontay Wilder edges thriller

Deontay Wilder set his sights on another world title after beating Derek Chisora by split decision in his boxing swansong at the O2 Arena.

Chisora was quickest out of the gates in the opening rounds but Wilder soon rose to the occasion and the pair went blow for blow throughout the opening rounds.

Twice Chisora fell out of the ring and he took a count in round eight, but the fight went the full distance and the judges ruled in Wilder’s favour, with the margin of victory just two points.

“Some of those rounds were very close,” Chisora said afterwards.

“I came out the ropes, I don’t know why.

I’m just upset.

If I didn’t come out the ropes I’d have won that fight.

“He pushed me out of the ropes once, the second one I just came out for some reason.

It happens.”
Many had speculated as to whether Chisora would follow through on his promise to retire after this bout, but he confirmed the defeat to Wilder would be his last outing in the ring.

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Wilder, meanwhile, set his sights on another world title despite the fact that this win was only his third since 2020.

“Tonight was very fun,” he told DAZN.

“As you could see, I was having a lot of fun in the ring.

Derek got a lot of good shots off, but it wasn’t nothing to a king.

“I’m a king and I showed that tonight.

It is all about having fun.

I had to heal, it took a long time for me to heal, and I am going to keep getting better.”
He continued, suggesting he had gone easy on Chisora so that he could ‘live for his kids’.

“I knew Derek would bring everything he ahd because this was his retirement fight.

I was telling him in the ring when his eye started swelling, his temple started to bulge.

I said ‘Bro, you gotta live for your kids, I don’t wanna hurt you too much longer.’
“Us fighters have to look out for each other and I looked out for Derek tonight.”
Earlier in the evening, Viddal Riley stunned the veteran Mateusz Masternak to claim the European cruiserweight title.

The north London native showed no fear whatsoever as he squared up to the hugely experienced Pole, dictating the terms of engagement from the off and delivering a unanimous decision victory after 12 rounds.

The social media sensation then set his sights on the vacant world cruiserweight title: “You know how it goes.

British, sometimes Commonwealth, then European and you go to the next level.

“We’ll sit down with the team.

I feel great and I’m ready for the next challenge.”
Further down the undercard, another Briton in Denzel Bentley produced a superb finish to stop Endry Saavedra and take a belt of his own, the interim WBO middleweight title.