Veteran heavyweight Derek ‘War’ Chisora 35-13 (23) has vowed to box on following his 10-round unanimous decision win over Joe ‘The Juggernaut’ Joyce 16-3 (15) at the O2 Arena in London, England on Saturday night.
The 40-year-old Londoner was given little chance of winning going into the bout against the fresher Joyce, 38, also from London.
But in heavyweight boxing, anything can happen. Even Chisora outboxing an opponent.
To break the fight down into simple terms, it was a battle between Joyce’s volume and Chisora’s sharpshooting. The key moment of the fight came in the ninth round when Joyce had Chisora backed onto the ropes. Joyce let his hands go before a counter right hand caught him on the chin while he was squared up and sent him to the canvas.
The knockdown was crucial in the end with the judges awarding the bout to Chisora by scores of 97-92, 96-94 and 96-94.
According to CompuBox, Joyce actually landed more total punches with 211 of 835 (25%) connects, compared to 192 of 564 (34%) for Chisora, who held an advantage in power punches, landing 163 compared to 151 for Joyce.
Before the fight, Chisora said that he wanted to have a total of 50 fights before hanging up the gloves. His current tally sits at 48.
“I haven’t boxed for a year, but I had to dig deep. I was fit, but Joe is a good fighter. I knew I was going to drop him at one stage,” said Chisora.
“I want to thank Frank Warren for keeping faith with me. I thought it was a good way to end my career with the man I started with. It’s not my last fight – I’ve got two more. It’s my last fight in the O2 Arena. I’ll go to Manchester in December.”
It’s difficult to know where Joyce goes from here. After back-to-back knockout losses to giant Chinese southpaw Zhilei ‘Big Bang’ Zhang 27-2-1 (22) last year, Joyce got back in the win column with a 10th and final round knockout of Kash Ali 21-3 (12) in March but looked less than convincing before the stoppage win.
“I enjoyed the fight, I thought it was close,” said Joyce. “That was a brilliant performance he gave. I was happy to share a ring with him. I don’t know if I’m done yet. I’m still pretty fresh.”
Before the fight, Joyce said he would knock Chisora out.
“Derek always brings it and gives his best. I know he’ll be coming for me, working on them shots, but I’ve been working on some things too,” said Joyce to BoxNation.
He added: “I believe I’ll stop him. I’m not sure when because he’s got a tough character. He’ll probably weather the storm for a bit and then I’ll take him out whenever I see the opportunity.
“I’ll just see what he brings to the table, but I know what I got.
“When it comes to fight night, you’ll see an exciting fight. Me and Chisora will make a great fight and it’s one not to be missed. I’m the Juggernaut, so he’s going to find out why he’s been avoiding me.”
