Parker Vanquishes Stouthearted Chisora

Joseph Parker narrowly defeated Dereck Chisora when they met this past May in Manchester. The verdict of the judges was split. Today they locked horns again in the same ring, but this time with fans in attendance. And this time Parker, a 13/5 favorite, won with room to spare, scoring three knockdowns en route to winning a clear-cut decision. But the story within the story was the gallant effort of Chisora who was on the verge of being stopped on several occasions, but never stopped throwing punches and summoned the will to go the distance.

Parker put “Dell Boy” on the canvas three times – in rounds four, seven, and eight. Uppercuts caused the damage in the first two instances; the third knockdown was more of a shove.

Parker, who improved to 30-2 (21), has adopted a more fan-friendly style since resettling with his family in England and hooking up with Andy Lee, Tyson Fury’s co-trainer, after previously living in Henderson, Nevada in the home of his former trainer Kevin Barry. At age 29, he was eight years younger than Chisora who lost for the twelfth time in 44 starts.

The judges had it 115-110, 115-111, 114-112, which gave Chisora the best of it, but was yet indicative of the fact that this match, although one-sided in the main, didn’t lack for drama.

Little Lever’s Meat Cleaver

Super middleweight Jack Cullen, who hails from the town of Little Lever in Greater Manchester – hence his odd nickname, Little Lever’s Meat Cleaver – had a seven-inch height advantage over France’s five-foot-eight Kevin Lelo Sadjo, and that served him well in the early going, but Sadjo found his way inside in the sixth and ended the fight with a left hook to the body.

It was an upset, although not one of major proportions. Sadjo, who says the only former fighter he admires is Mike Tyson, stayed undefeated with his 15^th knockout in 17 starts. The “Meat Cleaver” dropped to 20-3-1.

Other Bouts

In a bout packaged as an IBF 130-pound eliminator, Manchester’s Zelfa Barrett improved to 27-1 (16) with a 12-round decision over stubborn but out-classed Bruno Tarimo (26-3-2), an Australian by way of Tanzania. Barrett dropped him in the third round with a left hook. Tarimo wasn’t hurt and continued to press the action, but he was comprehensively out-boxed.

The judges had it 116-111 and 117-110 twice. With the victory, the Mancunian becomes the mandatory challenger for Kenichi Ogawa who out-pointed Azinga Fuzile last month in New York to gather in the vacant belt

In a mild upset, Lerrone Richards captured a fringe super middleweight title with a 12-round split decision over previously undefeated Carlos Gongora, now 20-1. Richards, who improved to 16-0 (3) prevailed by 115-113 scores on two of the cards. The dissenter had it 116-110 for Gongora, the two-time Olympian from Ecuador who now hangs his hat in Boston.

Richards, a Londoner, doesn’t pack a hard punch, but he’s a good technician with good lateral movement who fights well off his back foot. Gongora is a notoriously slow starter and today he wasn’t able to make up lost ground.

Croatian transplant Alen Babic (10-0, 10 KOs) has developed a cult following with his high workrate and hell-for-leather style. Today he engaged in another fan-friendly fight while turning back French import David Spilmont who lasted into the sixth round before becoming another of Babic’s knockout victims. Spilmont (11-8-1) had Babic in trouble in round two, but Babic, a “bridgerweight,” out-weighed by 36 pounds, had him on the deck in round four and finished the job in round six, putting the Frenchman, a late sub, down for the count.

Check out more boxing news on video at the Boxing Channel

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE