News
Derek Chisora Decks Otto Wallin Twice in Epic Manchester Show
Former British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion and two-time world challenger Derek Chisora gave his devoted hometown fans a thrill and the victory they came to see at the Co-op Live arena in Manchester.
Chisora looked like a completely rejuvenated man, not one at the end of a long career.
In what might be the best performance of his career, driven by his determination to go out with a flourish, Chisora of Manchester (36-13, 23 KOs) won a decision by wide scorecards fueled by two knockdowns over Otto Wallin of Sweden (27-3, 15 KOs). Scores were 117-109, 116-110, and a head-scratching 114-112.
Chisora is now the IBF mandatory challenger for the winner of the February 22 fight between his countryman Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker of New Zealand.
Chisora gave his opponent due respect. “Otto Wallin was a good fighter. I thought he was going to gas out, but he didn’t, and he proved me wrong,” said Chisora. Wallin never had any momentum in the fight, but he took everything Chisora could dish out and made it an exciting event for the fans.
Best Fight of Chisora’s Career
No one expected to see the 41-year-old Chisora look so lively after being in punishing fights with nearly every great heavyweight of the last two decades in his 49th fight.
Chisora came out swiftly, fighting the first southpaw since he faced Oleksandr Usyk. He switched stances in the early rounds.
Once past the early rounds, Chisora began to press Wallin into the ropes and unleashed his firepower, working inside.
In round five, Chisora landed a grazing right hand, just missing landing flush to Wallin’s temple. Chisora kept coming with the right hand without fear of Wallin’s jab trying to fend him off. As the pair clenched, the inevitable coming together of orthodox and southpaw fighter heads caused a cut to appear above Chisora’s right eye.
Referee John Latham paused the action to have the cut examined, and it wasn’t looking good. But the ringside physician allowed it to continue. The Manchester fans cheered as the action continued. Cutman Russ Anbar kept the cut in check as best he could.
Chisora’s team urged him to stay in the orthodox stance and avoid to giving Wallin any opportunity to open the cut further with a hard left hand.
Chisora Turns Back The Clock
Chisora kept up his energy in the ring even as he looked exhausted between rounds in the corner. In round eight, Chisora pinned Wallin on the ropes, and unleased over a dozen unanswered power punches.
At the start of the ninth round, Chisora brought the crowd to its feet as he dropped Wallin to the canvas with a wide overhand right hand to the temple. Although the shot didn’t quite land flush, it was enough.
Wallin stumbled and crashed onto his backside. Chisora did his best to try and close the fight, but Wallin refused to yield.
With time running out, Wallin couldn’t outbox Chisora, and he wasn’t going to outslug him. Chisora slowed a bit in the tenth round and walked into a shot near the end of the round. Trainer Joey Gamache tried to rally Wallin, but it was too little too late.
From the start, Wallin never seemed to find the right game plan against Chisora, who was the man coming forward. It was another missed opportunity for Wallin, who has always taken every challenge presented but hasn’t been able to capitalize.
As time was running out in the final round, Chisora put a big exclamation point on his performance, dramatically dropping Wallin a second time. Wallin survived to the bell, but his fate was sealed.
Emotional Victory for Chisora
Chisora admitted it had been an emotional day. He said he promised himself he wouldn’t cry as he arrived at the arena and walked to his dressing room. But the tears flowed freely.
“Bro, I started crying like a baby. I love the sport, and I love the fans. For me, it was a very emotional day for me today. It was a firefight. It was very hard.”
Queensberry Promotions chairman Frank Warren said, “What a performance tonight. It was 18 years ago this month he made his debut on his show. I can’t tell you how proud I am of him tonight. Derek, everybody in the place, they love you and you did brilliant.”
Chisora has always said he wanted to make it through 50 professional fights. While Dubois seems the obvious choice, Chisora asked the fans to decide. His team members held up three photos of Daniel Dubois, Anthony Joshua, and Oleksandr Usyk. The biggest cheers were for Joshua.
Warren said, “What he wants, we’ll make it happen. First of all, he has won the eliminator for the IBF title, Daniel Dubois. It’s his 50th fight, he deserves it.” The realistic fight is the third and likely final title shot, whoever it belongs to after February 22.
Asked about his legacy, Chisora said, “Legacy is made by the fans. I think I’ll be the legacy hall of fame when I’m dead. Not now. It’s the fan who choose my legacy in the United Kingdom, and I love every bit of it, bro.”
Chisora ignored pleas for him to hang up the gloves more than once, especially after taking a beating from his friend Tyson Fury in December 2022. He’s won three fights since then. He’s, without a doubt, the best fighter with 13 losses active today.
Chisora will land on a Riyadh card for a sendoff payday, having achieved his goal of 50 fights, and perhaps this will be enough to retire on.
Wallin may carry on as a gatekeeper, but the Swede lives comfortably in New York and may decide it’s time to move on.
Nathan Heaney Suffers Upset TKO Loss to Sofiane Khati
Middleweight Nathan Heaney of Staffordshire (18-2-1, 6 KOs) made a spirited ring walk to the Tom Jones torch song “Delilah.” He sadly got torched himself by Sofiane Khati of France (18-5-1, 7 KOs). Khati dropped Heaney with a hard right hand in the seventh round. With most of the round left to close the show, and with Heaney bleeding badly from a cut earlier in the fight, referee Bob Williams decided it was too much and stopped the fight. It was a devastating loss for the 35-year-old Heaney, who hoped to advance his career with a victory.
Super lightweight Jack Rafferty of Manchester (25-0, 16 KOs) successfully defended his British and Commonwealth titles in against Reece MacMillan of Lancashire (17-2, 2 KOs). Under fire from Rafferty and behind on the cards, MacMillan’s corner wisely through in the towel in the 12th round.
Family Affairs in Manchester
Super featherweight Jermaine Dhliwayo of London (5-0, 1 KO), middleweight Joe Cooper of Essex (3-0), and Walter Fury of Lancashire (3-0) all won on the before the bell portion of the undercard. They are respective the cousins of Derek Chisora (Dhliwayo), Billy Joe Saunders (Cooper), and Tyson Fury, who was watching ringside and happily signing autographs and taking photos with fans.
