Fast Results from Dueling U.K. Fight Cards plus Undercard Notes

There were dueling fights tonight in England. Both were entertaining. The heavyweight match in London between Dillian Whyte and Dereck Chisora did not match the intensity of their first meeting, but it ended spectacularly when Whyte knocked Chisora out cold in round 11 with a devastating left hook.

The fight was up for grabs at that point. Chisora was ahead 95-94 on two of the scorecards through the completed rounds despite having a point deducted in round eight for low blows. Whyte was ahead 95-94 on the other. The knockout occurred shortly after Chisora was hit with another point deduction, this for excessive use of his elbow.

This was the second fight this year that Whyte rendered an opponent unconscious. Back in March, he scored a frightful one-punch knockout over Australia’s Lucas Browne.

The victory supposedly puts Dillian Whyte in the driver’s seat for an April 13 date at Wembley Stadium with Anthony Joshua. This would be a rematch. Joshua stopped Whyte in the seventh round three years ago, saddling the “Body Snatcher” with his lone defeat, but there was a moment when it appeared that Whyte had taken command. However, after tonight’s showing, Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn (who also promotes Whyte) likely believes that a match with Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury would be less risky for AJ.

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The main go in Manchester saw crowd favorite Josh Warrington (28-0, 6 KOs) turn away favored Carl Frampton (27-2) by unanimous decision in the first defense of his IBF featherweight title. Warrington started fast, wobbling Frampton in each of the first two rounds. There were concerns that he would burn himself out, but in the late rounds he looked like the better conditioned fighter. The battlers stood toe-to-toe in round eight and again in round 10, much to the satisfaction of the crowd. The final scores were 116-113 and 116-112 twice.

Warrington, a dental technician by day, has said that he wants to compete in a big fight in Las Vegas before he hangs up his gloves. He earned that opportunity tonight.

UNDERCARD NOTES / MANCHESTER

In a 12-round middleweight match between veteran campaigners, Hassam N’Dam N’Jikam (37-3) outworked Martin Murray (37-5-1) to win a majority decision (117-112, 116-112, 114-114). The French-Cameroonian N’Jikam was making his first start since losing his WBA middleweight belt in a rematch with Ryota Murata. Murray had vowed to retire if he lost the fight.

In his first 10-rounder, featherweight Michael Conlan improved to 10-0 with a unanimous decision over Jason Cunningham (24-8). There were no knockdowns, but Conlan almost took Cunningham out in the final seconds of the final stanza. The scores were 98-92 and 97-92 twice.

Rising heavyweight contender Nathan Gorman (15-0, 11 KOs) won a lopsided 12-round decision over Razvan Cojanu. The sturdy but limited Cojanu (16-5) had previously gone 12 rounds with Joseph Parker.

Billy Joe Saunders ended a wasted year on a good note with a TKO over Ghana’s 41-year-old Charles Adamu. Saunders entered the ring a puffy 178 ¼ pounds. The former WBO middleweight champion has yet to lose as a professional but appears to have outgrown the middleweight division.

Tommy Fury, the 19-year-old brother of Tyson Fury, won his professional debut with a ho-hum 4-round unanimous decision over professional loser Jevgenjis Andrejevs. Nine inches shorter than Tyson, Tommy carried 179 ½ pounds.

UNDERCARD NOTES / LONDON

The chief undercard fight produced a mild upset when Charlie Edwards wrested the WBC world flyweight title from Nicaragua’s Christopher Rosales with a unanimous decision (118-110, 117-111,116-112). Edwards (14-1) had previously fought for the IBF version of the title, losing by TKO 10 to John Riel Casimero. The new title-holder looks forward to bouts with domestic rivals Kal Yafai and Andrew Selby, but Team Rosales negotiated a rematch clause and that will take precedence. Rosales fell to 28-4.

China-chinned heavyweight David Price (22-6, 18 KOs) scored a fifth round stoppage of paunchy Tom Little (10-7). Many felt the referee stopped it prematurely.

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