Tyson Fury, Dereck Chisora Get Ws in London

Dereck Chisora and Tyson Fury did the expected, and took care of their underdog foes on Saturday in England. The vet heavies scrapped on a card which unfolded at the Copper Box arena in London.

Fury, the long, tall Traveller, took out bomber Joey Abell in round three, while Chisora defeated Kevin Johnson, a boxer with some skills but lacking in the fire department.

Chisora (age 30; 20-4) sent Johnson to the mat with a looping right to the top/side of the head in the fifth, but couldn’t finish the man. He won, by scores of 118-109, 118-110, 118-109 on a card presented in the US on PPV by Integrated and elsewhere outside the UK on The Fight Network.

Johnson (29-5-1; age 34; Georgia resident) is a sort who survives and doesn’t give off the aura of looking to thrive, to win a battle of wills. Skills, he’s got some, but he was too content to back up, pop a so-so jab, slip, and clinch. He had some moments in round one, nine, ten and 12, you could argue. But not enough to convince the judges he deserved a W.

“Del” has gotten more serious in the last year, buying in to the concept of being a 24-7 athlete a bit more. He looks more fit than he has in the past, but really, he is what he is, a decent heavyweight in a cruddy heavyweight era. Decent, though, can be enough to land yourself a title crack, or maybe a buzzworthy tussle with a Fury, a bout which would certainly put arses in seats over in the UK. You would have liked for him to show more urgency more often, and look to close out, in the 12th on a higher note than he did. Next for Del? He said he wants Alexander Povetkin in late spring or summer, and has asked promoter Frank Warren to sort that out.

The 6-9 Fury (23-5) was chubby, yes, and clowned, fought on the back foot more than you might like from a man with the size and strength edge, and got knocked back into the ropes a couple times…but then got down to business in the third. Some thought maybe the lefty from Minnesota could capitalize on Fury’s bulk, as he came in at 274, but while he buzzed him, he couldn’t do more than that. He was down and up twice in the third, off right hands, and twice in the fourth, from combos. On the last knockdown, he got up, wand wanted to go on, but the ref waved his hands, no more. Abell drops to 29-8.

Me, I think Fury and Chisora should meet each other next. Your thoughts, gang?

WATCH RELATED VIDEOS ON BOXINGCHANNEL.TV