CHISORA SLAMS ‘UNBELIEVABLE’ CALL
HIS mother talked him into the ring on Saturday night and now it might be time for her to talk him out of doing it again. Derek Chisora continues to offer fine value in the Indian summer of his long career, but the losses are adding up.
This latest one, at the hands of Joseph Parker, came after a brilliantly absorbing fight. And it was close, devilishly so, given it was a split decision. But at the age of 37, and with 11 defeats on his record, the question is whether the Londoner has much more to gain from the rigours of this business.
Certainly, he can still handle himself. If anything, he has actually grown more entertaining with age, as shown again by dropping Parker in the first and pummelling his body thereafter. But the subject of retirement that so frustrates him will now inevitably resurface, and perhaps it is one he should consider more fully after falling short again in his efforts to move inwards from the fringes of the heavyweight picture.
What goes against that argument is that it was no stinker of a performance. Far from it, because he played his part in a quality match. Granted, it didn’t justify its billing as the headline act, because Katie Taylor’s successful defence on points of the undisputed lightweight titles deserved that status, but it was a very good contribution to an exciting fight nonetheless.
Ultimately it was in a losing cause, with the cards favouring Parker for his second-half revival. Chisora won 115-113 according to one judge, but two went for Parker by 116-111 and 115-113.
The 116-111 was ludicrous but the fight was too close to be considered a robbery, even if Chisora was livid. He said: ‘I am beyond getting upset now. I train hard, I bring everything and this is the treatment I get from boxing. Same as last fight (a decision loss to Oleksandr Usyk). They don’t like me. I put it all in there and this is the result I get. This is unbelievable. Even his coach Andy Lee said I won the fight.’
It was a good fight, all told, even if it wasn’t fully a match for Taylor-Jonas. Taylor had raced ahead by taking four of the opening five rounds, but from there Jonas, who had twice lost to the brilliant Irishwoman in the amateurs, hit back. They were level going into the final two after an absorbing, high-class fight that was rich in lengthy exchanges, before Taylor closed well.
‘Every time we fight it is edge of your seat and this was no different,’ said Taylor. ‘I thought I won the championship rounds and it is a great win.’
Earlier, Chris Eubank Jr outclassed Marcus Morrison in a 10-rounder in his first fight after joining up with Roy Jones Jr, and Craig Richards put up a brave fight in an unsuccessful challenge for the WBA light-heavyweight world title held by Russia’s Dmitry Bivol. Meanwhile, Campbell Hatton made it two wins from two as a professional with a points victory over Levi Dunn. As with his debut in March, Hatton, 20, fell short in a scrappy rush for a knockout, but was marginally more composed in his work. He won the four-rounder by 40-36.
Hatton said: ‘It was night and day to my debut. I was more relaxed, used my brain more, so I am a lot more pleased.’