The chief support fight to the IBF world heavyweight title clash between Joshua and Molina last night saw Dillian Whyte take on Dereck Chisora.
The build-up to the fight had created press of the wrong kind with Chisora launching a table in the direction of Whyte at the pre-fight press conference. The incident saw the British Boxing Board of Control intervene and the fight lost its classification as a British title fight.
However, the fight was still billed as a WBC world title eliminator and despite the mutual dislike the fighters had for each other the duo served up, quite possibly, the fight of the night.
It was one of those fights whereby you made your own judgement call on who was winning the rounds as the action saw both boxers have their moments.
Chisora, to me, looked to be winning the earlier rounds but Whyte was always involved in the action.
Whyte appeared to be hurt by shots from Chisora in the 8th, 10th and 12th rounds but always remained active with punches of his own.
The 12th round appeared to be a very good round for Chisora with Whyte being rocked on a couple of occasions by big punches to the head.
At the sound of the final bell we were kept waiting until a decision was announced and when it came it perhaps showed just how difficult this one was to score, with the result announced as a split decision.
The three judges scored the fight as thus:-
? 115 ? 113 (in favour of Whyte)
? 115 ? 113 (in favour of Chisora)
? 115 ? 114 (in favour of Whyte)
The win gives Whyte the opportunity to take on the current WBC heavyweight title holder Deontay Wilder.
However, the close nature of the fight screams that a re-match would be most welcome; however, I?m not sure the British Boxing Board of Control would be that keen to see the two men matched up again.
Whyte Beats Chisora by Split Decision
