Chisora dreams of Vegas despite Parker beating
AN astonishing night to bring the curtain down on British boxing in 2021. The final bow for a heroic Derek Chisora? Forget the judges’ scores: this was a brutal evening at the hands of Joseph Parker, who inflicted three counts and ceded fewer rounds in Manchester. Their rivalry, this chapter is closed. At 37, the book should now be too. Instead Chisora eyes two more big nights: Andy Ruiz Jnr in Las Vegas or a homecoming in his native Zimbabwe. Incredible. Of all his 12 losses, have many been this punishing? The tremors of such defeats can linger well after the final bell. Quite how Chisora lasted that long was a feat of almost inhuman courage and grit. If he felt robbed by the split decision in their first meeting, this unanimous verdict (115-110, 115-111, 114-112) belied Parker’s dominance. The end seemed nigh in the third, when a flurry of shots stunned Chisora. Again in round four, when a horrific uppercut sent him tumbling, only for Chisora to respond with a remarkable rally that ended with the referee restraining Chisora as he roared ‘War!’ in Parker’s face. Again in the seventh, when Parker crumpled Chisora, who emptied the tank with one more defiant counter-offensive. Again in round eight, when a third, thudding uppercut landed and the ropes kept Del Boy up once more. And again in the ninth, when referee Howard Foster looked seconds away from stepping in. For so long it seemed Chisora had nothing left to give. Nothing to prove. Yet back he came. How many times have we said that over the past half-decade? This was a perfect encapsulation of Chisora’s enduring twilight, another night when his appeal only swelled in defeat. After 24 rounds, he and Parker enjoyed a burger together backstage. The New Zealander could toast an improved display that keeps him in world-title contention. Del Boy was so drained it took him two hours to provide drug testers with a urine sample. The warhorse eventually headed back to his hotel for a cigar. He has already asked for another fight. As promoter Eddie Hearn reflected: ‘Derek Chisora is not human.’