Derek Chisora dropped Otto Wallin twice on his way to a unanimous points decision victory in his 49th and penultimate professional fight to set up a blockbuster finish to his career.
If this was to be Chisora’s final fight on British soil as he claims, it was the perfect farewell to his home fans at the Co-op Live in Manchester, England. In one of his best ever displays, full of determination and aggression, Chisora won by scores of 117-109, 114-112 and 116-110.
Chisora (36-13, 23 KOs), 41, floored Wallin (27-3, 15 KOs) in Round 9 and then in the final seconds in an eliminator for the IBF world heavyweight title, which Chisora’s English rival Daniel Dubois defends the belt against Joseph Parker in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 22. Chisora is now due a shot at the winner of Dubois vs. Parker in his 50th professional fight, which he insists will be his last.
Just whether Chisora deserves a shot at a world title after losing four of his last eight fights will cause debate, but what is beyond doubt is Chisora’s entertainment value.
“I cried like a baby when I arrived because I love the sport, the fans, it was a very emotional day for me,” Chisora said.
“It was very hard, when I got the cut, my ears popped in the third round.”
Chisora then asked the crowd if he should fight Dubois, Anthony Joshua or Oleksandr Usyk in his last fight. Since Frank Warren promotes both Dubois and Chisora, Dubois would be the easiest fight to make.
Chisora, who has been an entertaining and controversial figure through his 18-year career, entered the fight following an epic encounter with Joe Joyce, one of two wins since Tyson Fury stopped him for the WBC world title in December 2022.
Wallin, 34, from Sweden but based in New York, also lost to Fury (but in a close fight on points in September 2019) and badly needed a career boost after a Round 5 defeat to Anthony Joshua in December 2023.
It was never going to be a comfortable night for Wallin and Chisora began by burrowing forward, swinging hooks and unperturbed by Wallin’s southpaw stance.
Chisora, who also unsuccessfully challenged Vitali Klitschko for the world title in 2012, maintained the pressure into Round 2 and landed a good left hook on the bell.
Chisora, who was born in Zimbabwe but has lived in London since childhood, landed two right hands in Round 3 and Wallin was timid in response.
Wallin made it easy for Chisora through Round 5 and the Londoner scored with some right hands. Chisora was left with some cuts around his right eye from Round 5, caused by a clash of heads, and his face was covered in blood by Round 6.
By Round 7, Chisora was back in his groove and he ended the round with a furious assault as he threatened a stoppage.
Chisora almost punched himself to the point of exhaustion in Round 8 as he went looking for a knockout when he landed over 30 punches in succession, beginning with a leaping left hook.
Chisora’s hard work paid off when he uncorked a huge right hand glanced Wallin’s temple and sent him staggering backwards across the ring and down for a count in Round 9. Wallin bravely got up and recovered his senses quickly to avoid further trouble.
Wallin needed a stoppage in the last few rounds but his punches lacked the power to give Chisora any problems and Chisora was allowed to cruise to a memorable victory, capped off by sending Wallin down for another count with a right hand to the top of the head in the final seconds.
On the undercard, Sofiane Khati (18-5, 7 KOs) inflicted a damaging seventh-round stoppage on Nathan Heaney (18-2-1, 6 KOs) in a middleweight bout. Khati grew into the fight and left Heaney on legs of jelly from a knockdown in Round 7.
Heaney, from Stoke, England, was given some time to recover after the count while his mouthguard was picked off the canvas and cleaned, but it did not help him as Frenchman Khati then prompted the stoppage with a flurry of unanswered blows.
There were wins for two local heroes on the Manchester show. Zak Miller (16-1, 3 KOs) won the British featherweight title with a majority decision win over Masood Abdullah (11-1, 7 KOs) and Jack Rafferty (25-0, 16 KOs) pulled off a seventh-round stoppage win over Reece MacMillan (17-2, 2 KOs) for a first defence of his British junior welterweight title.