Forty-one-year-old Chisora was competing in his 49th career fight as he took on Otto Wallin in an eliminator for the IBF heavyweight title currently held by Daniel Dubois. And in front of a packed house in Manchester, Chisora bit down on his mouthpiece and pushed the pace for 12 long rounds to claim a lop-sided unanimous decision victory.
Wallin started slowly and couldn’t get to grips with Chisora’s constant forward pressure, as the British fan-favourite forced Wallin backwards and punished him with winging hooks to the body and head.
Such was Chisora’s pressure, “Del Boy” managed to twice send Wallin to the canvas, with the first knockdown coming via an overhand right that clipped Wallin’s temple, sending him staggering backward, and eventually falling to the canvas.
The second the second knockdown coming in the closing exchanges of the final round as he pushed for a late finish. And while Wallin beat the count as the bell sounded to end the fight, Chisora was the clear winner, with the judges’ scorecards reading 117-109, 114-112, 116-110 in his favour.
It meant that Chisora claimed the 36th win of his career, and gave him a chance to bow out of his boxing career with one more huge fight. He brought posters of three potential opponents into the ring as he canvassed the Manchester crowd for their preference. From the crowd’s reaction, a bout with Anthony Joshua would be the best received, compared to title challenges against Oleksandr Usyk or Daniel Dubois.
But in Dubois, whose poster received the most mixed response, Chisora has a ready-made fight, with his victory over Wallin making him the mandatory challenger for Dubois’ IBF world title.
Chisora’s performance was watched by a selection of stars from the world of boxing, including former four-weight world champion Roberto Duran, and heavyweight contenders Joe Joyce and Dillian Whyte, as well as WBA featherweight champion Nick Ball.
And, following his hard-earned victory, Chisora admitted that Wallin was a tougher nut to crack than he had expected.
“I thought he was going to gas out but he didn’t and I was wrong,” Chisora said.
“It was a firefight.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1NxnkM0NMA
