DEREK Chisora proved there's life in the old dog, beat 'Juggernaut' Joe Joyce with points at the O2 Arena. It wasn't always pretty, but the crowd was always cheering for the last second of the fight which saw a tired Chisora raise his hand at the end.
The judges gave a score of 96-94 (twice, by Mark Bates and Victor Loughlin). Kieran McCann had it wide at 97-92.
Both men appeared to slow down on the balcony, as Chisora targeted the body and looked to recover before appearing to wobble for a moment in the finish.
Derek is back on the floor for the second time. That same hunting ground once bore fruit for Bryant Jennings. Chisora was blowing hard at the end of the third, as Joyce took advantage of an opening hook and uppercut.
In the fourth round, Joyce used his extra weight to push Chisora against the ropes as 'Del Boy' looked to deliver a left hook. Joe's hard left jab hasn't been much so far. It rebounded in the top of the fifth, a cycle that ignited in the final 40 seconds.
Referee Kevin Parker started the sixth by telling the two to leave “after that”. When the round started, it was another messy event, he was defeated by Chisora's loping swings which made Joyce unable to dodge.
The closing of the seventh round had a happy slogan. Derek backs off the ropes again, sending uppercuts and bombs landing on the floor.
The eighth round saw Chisora hurt and running around fuming as he staggered back to his corner and collapsed on his chair in exhaustion. Is the road finally over for the UK's oldest boxing hero?
The ninth session was awkward, as Chisora took a momentary break from being beaten to drop Joyce with a crushing right hand.
Round 10 and Chisora roamed the ropes, waiting for Joyce to commit for big haymakers. Even Oleksandr Usyk stopped to applaud the big men.
“Joe was a good fight. I'm not giving up,” Chisora clarified, after his victory was confirmed. “Shout out to London!”
Chisora thanked promoter Frank Warren and praised the late Dean Powell.
Joe Joyce appeared to be very happy with tonight's performance, speaking directly to the London crowd: “Do you want to see more of me? I'm still young.”
The undercard produced some interesting results. In the battle of invincibility, Ryan Garner handed Archie Sharp his first professional loss. Sharp was badly cut and conceded a unanimous decision after 10 rounds.
Moses Itauma sent a powerful statement to any heavyweight contender by stopping Mariusz Wach in the second round.
Dennis McCann detailed Ionut Baluta over 12 rounds to continue his work and put the shame of their first meeting.
Royston Barney-Smith He fought badly to defeat Brian Barajas in eight rounds.
Sean Noakes He captured the English welterweight title on points defeating Inder Bassi following a competitive home bout over 10 rounds.
Adam Hamed opened the televised portion with a dominant 40-36 victory over Bulgarian defending champion Georgi Velichkov.
Raven Chapman took the WBC International featherweight title with a 10-point decision over Yohana Sarabia.
Brandon Lee He went the full eight rounds in his first Queensberry, outscoring Juan Anacona.
Umar Khan defeated Kaddour Hmiani by points in eight rounds.
Jermaine Dhliwayo won his first match in four rounds against Engel Gomez.
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