Fast Results From London: Fan Favorites Whyte and Chisora Triumphant

Matchroom Boxing head honcho Eddie Hearn put on a great show tonight at sold-out O2 Arena. There was plenty of action and plenty of drama and the underdogs dialed up mild upsets in the featured bouts.

In the main event, Dillian Whyte (24-1) survived a big scare in the final round to score a 12-round unanimous decision over Joseph Parker (24-2). The presumption going in was that Parker would win if the fight went the distance because he had the faster hands and was the better boxer, but those that dissented believed that Whyte would eventually wear him down because he was the bigger man and his punches carried more clout.

The pro-Whyte faction had the right idea. Whyte had the best of it in rounds seven through 10 and looked to be somewhat less tired entering the homestretch. But Parker got a second wind, rocking Whyte with a big uppercut near the end of round 11 and then decking Whyte with a harsh right hand with 30 seconds to go in the final round. Whyte made it to his feet and held on to the final bell.

This was the third knockdown of the fight. The Kiwi hit the deck in round two. Replays showed that the knockdown resulted from an accidental clash of heads, but it went into the books as a knockdown nonetheless. In round nine, Whyte floored Parker with a big left hook. That gave him a lead that proved insurmountable. In the final tally, the “Body Snatcher” prevailed by scores of 113-112, 115-110, and 114-111.

With the victory, Whyte may have earned a rematch with Anthony Joshua, leapfrogging  Deontay Wilder in the pecking order. That’s assuming, of course, that Joshua gets past Alexander Povetkin in September.

Heading into the match, Joseph Parker told reporters, “I could easily have gone and fought a guy that I was sure to beat, but what’s the point in that?” Tonight he incurred a second straight defeat but redeemed himself after a tepid showing against Joshua. Parker’s corner complained about Whyte’s roughhouse tactics throughout the fight, planting the seeds for an eventual rematch.

Other Bouts

Is there any fighter more erratic than Dereck Chisora? In December of 2016, “Dell Boy” engaged in a humdinger of a fight with Dillian Whyte, a strong Fight of the Year candidate. More recently he lost a snoozer to unheralded Agit Kabayel. So the big question tonight when he faced Carlos Takam was which Dereck Chisora would show up.

To the delight of the crowd, Chisora brought back memories of his stirring battle with Whyte. Fighting in frequent patches with his back against the ropes, the Zimbabwe-born Londoner absorbed a great deal of punishment, but he stayed the course and would eventually cave in Takam in the eighth stanza. A body shot put Takam on the deck and a booming right hand over the top brought the bout to a conclusion.

The French-Cameroonian Takam, 35-4-1 going in, was a small favorite as he had the luxury of a full camp, unlike his most recent fight against Anthony Joshua, an assignment he took on less than seven days notice. But Chisora (29-8, 21 KOs) was the last man standing.

In a 10 round welterweight match, Conor Benn, the son of former two-division world champion Nigel Benn, improved to 13-0 with a unanimous decision over Cedrick Peynaud. Benn was credited with three knockdowns, the first of which should have been scored a slip. The scores were 98-90, 97-90, and 98-91.

Peynaud (6-6-3) slipped to .500. But he is better than his record. This was a rematch. In the first meeting last December, the Frenchman had Benn was down twice in the opening round but Benn stormed back to score two knockdowns of his own to win over the referee and cop the decision in a 6-round bout.

In an upset that was a harbinger of sorts of the two featured bouts, David Allen positioned himself for a match with British heavyweight title-holder Hughie Fury with a fourth round stoppage of previously undefeated Nick Webb. Out-boxed in the first three rounds, Allen (14-4-2, 11 KOs) turned the tide in round four with an overhand right that hurt Webb and then he finished him off with a punch of the same description. Webb was 12-0 going in with 10 knockouts to his credit. Allen vs. Webb was a late addition to the card, replacing the bout between Kell Brook and Brandon Cook which fell out when Brook suffered an ankle injury in training.

Also, 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Joshua Buatsi advanced to 7-0 with a first round demolition of 39-year-old Latvian no-hoper Andrejs Pokumeiko. Buatsi, a light heavyweight, hopes to land a match soon with undefeated countryman Anthony Yarde.

Finally, Katie Taylor prepped for her October clash with Cindy Serrano in Chicago with a third round stoppage of obscure Arkansas import Kimberly Connor.

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