Decision topic for debate
Joseph Parker’s split decision victory over Dereck Chisora is ‘‘definitely going to be debated’’ by fans around the world.
That’s according to boxing website Bad Left Hook following Parker claiming a razor thin win over Chisora in Manchester yesterday.
After 12 entertaining rounds, highlighted by a dramatic turn of events that saw Parker knocked down just seven seconds into the bout, English judge Howard Foster scored the fight 115-113 to Chisora, Kiwi Andrew Bell signed the same card in favour of Parker and somehow Polish judge Grzegorz Molenda found a 116-111 margin in Parker’s favour.
British tabloid The Sun was unimpressed with Parker’s split decision victory, writing the Kiwi ‘‘had no answer for Chisora’s relentless peekaboo style’’.
‘‘Former WBO world champ Parker was on his bike most of the time, failing to implement whatever tactics new trainer Andy Lee had planned.’’
English news site The Guardian described the ‘‘desperately tight’’ contest as a close and bruising fight.
‘‘It was a shock opening for the favoured fighter [Parker] but he looked off balance as the blow to the back of his head landed with crude force. Chisora, seeking an early finish, poured forward but Parker was not badly hurt. The New Zealander managed to keep the marauding Chisora at bay to see out the rest of the round without further mishap.
‘‘Parker, the more skilful fighter, had sporadic success but he struggled to stem the brawling style of Chisora,’’ the newspaper’s report of the first half of the fight read.
The BBC’s Luke Reddy gave Parker credit for working his way back into the contest in the second half of the fight.
‘‘To Parker’s credit, facing such pressure is mentally taxing but he stood up to both the knockdown and an early onslaught before beginning to land good combinations of his own.’’
But Reddy was realistic about Parker’s future.
‘‘The former champion can look to bigger names but the stars at the top of the division possess natural size advantages that will make his task all the more tricky.’’
BBC Sport boxing correspondent Mike Costello scored the fight to Parker by three rounds but said it was close enough that he didn’t begrudge Foster scoring it 115-113 in Chisora’s favour.
‘‘Parker did well to recover so quickly from the early knockdown and for me his cleaner punching at long and mid-range was decisive. His durability and resilience were also factors and, given more time with his new trainer Andy Lee, there should be better to come.’’
Boxing website Bad Left Hook’s Scott Christ, who scored the fight 114-113 for Chisora, said the split ‘‘decision is definitely going to be debated’’.
Christ correctly identified Molenda’s scorecard of 116-111 in favour of Parker as a ‘‘pretty awful score’’.
Bad Left Hook also made mention of a lack of killer instinct from the Kiwi fighter.
‘‘Parker did sharp-shoot well at times, but often took his foot off the gas when it seemed he could have done more, including in the 12th round when he appeared to have Chisora hurt, then backed off and let Chisora roar back with what little the veteran had left,’’ Christ wrote.
‘‘It’s not a fight where I think there was any clear, distant winner.’’
Despite instant talk of a rematch that Parker, Chisora and Parker’s new trainer Andy Lee were all for, the Daily Mail’s Riath Al-Samarrai believes the Brit should strongly consider retirement.
‘‘Dereck Chisora continues to offer fine value in the Indian summer of his long career, but the losses are adding up.’’