Fast Results from London: Usyk Outpoints Teak-Tough Chisora

In a fight that was a lot closer than most folks expected, Oleksandr Usyk overcame Dereck Chisora, winning a unanimous decision on scores of 117-111, 115-113, and 115-113.

The 36-year-old Chisora, who at 255 ½ was 38 ½-pounds the heavier man, came out firing to good effect but it was inevitable that his workrate would slow if the Ukrainian southpaw could take him into the late rounds. Indeed, Usyk did find his groove when Chisora slowed down, but to Chisora’s credit he dug deep after being wobbled in the seventh and eighth frames and took the bout to the scorecards.

Usyk entered the fight ranked among the top three heavyweight contenders by all four major sanctioning bodies and #1 by the WBO.  Fighting at a career-high but lighter-than-expected 217 pounds, Usyk maintained his placements but yet his showing suggested that he may be too small for the likes of Tyson Fury or Anthony Joshua.

With the victory, Usyk, now 33 years old, advanced his record to 18-0 (13). Chisora, who is managed by former foe David Haye, falls to 32-10.

Co-Feature

George Kambosos Jr, who is from Sydney, Australia, but does his serious training in the United States, set himself up for a possible bout with Teofimo Lopez with a 12-round split decision over Welshman Lee Selby. The scores were 118-110, 116-112, and 114-115. Many of the rounds were difficult to score, but the 118-110 tally was a head-scratcher.

Kambosos, who went to post a short favorite, did his best work in the late rounds while improving his ledger to 19-0 (10). It was the third fight back for Selby since losing his IBF world featherweight title in his fifth defense on a split decision to Josh Warrington.

Other Bouts

In a 12-round cruiserweight contest, Belfast’s Tommy McCarthy overcame stubborn Bilal Laggoune, winning a 12-round majority decision to claim a vacant European title. The scores were 116-112, 116-113, and 114-114.

Belgium’s Laggoune, who fell to 25-2-2, did his best work early and late but McCarthy, who improved to 17-2, dominated the middle rounds. After the fight, McCarthy called out Mairis Briedis who is generally recognized as the top cruiserweight in the world. McCarthy, who is of Irish and Jamaican descent, proudly noted that he is the first black Irishman to win a European title.

Savannah Marshall, a 29-year-old middleweight from the English seaport city of Hartlepool, exploited advantages in height and reach to win a vacant WBO world title and remain undefeated with a seventh round TKO of Scotswoman Hannah Rankin. Marshall (9-0, 7 KOs) unloaded a flurry of punches that caused out-classed Rankin to take a knee and although she wanted to continue, the referee thought it prudent to waive the fight off.

Marshall’s previous claim to fame was that she defeated Claressa Shields as an amateur, turning the trick in 2012 at a tournament in China. Rankin, who declined to 9-5, has a second career to fall back on. She is a world-class bassoonist.

Two undercard fights were cancelled.

Former British bantamweight champion Kash Farooq’s bout with Mexican journeyman Martin Tecuapetla fell out when a member of Farooq’s team tested positive for the coronavirus. A scheduled 10-round heavyweight contest between David Allen and mysterious Christopher Lovejoy was lost when venerable promoter Don King came out of the woodwork waiving a valid managerial contract on Lovejoy which Lovejoy had failed to acknowledge when he signed for the fight.

The Usyk-Chisora affair, the capstone of a long-drawn-out Matchroom promotion, was televised on Sky Sports Box Office in the U.K., on DAZN in North America and other parts of the world, and even on radio in the U.K. with Dillian Whyte joining the broadcast crew by phone from his training quarters in Portugal.

Moscow

Earlier today, in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia, power puncher Murat Gassiev (27-1, 20 KOs), carrying a career-high 230 ½ pounds, returned to the ring after a 27-month absence and made his pro debut as a heavyweight. Gassiev, trained by Abel Sanchez, made short work of flabby 43-year-old Swiss-Albanian bruiser Nuri Seferi (41-10). A big right hand deposited Seferi on the deck and he was all at sea when he made it to his feet, forcing the referee to step in. It was all over in 67 seconds. Gassiev’s lone defeat came at the hands of Oleksandr Usyk in the finals of the 2018 World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight tournament.

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