Righto, that’s us done. Thanks all for your company, and check back for our report which will be along in due course. Tyson Fury is very good, Derek Chisora is very tough, and that will forever be the case. Night night.
Fury says the big fights have evaded him for so long but they can’t hide anymore. He’s more amped now than he was during the actual contest! But that’s the end of his interview, and he is just so so good.
Fury says he loves everyone in the crowd, and he can’t believe how many people have come out to see him. “God bless you all,” he says. He’s not boxed since April, he says, so needed some rounds, and felt good in there. He congratulates Chisora, leading a round of “Oh Derek Chisora,” saying he landed shots that’d knock else anyone out, and that Chisora was talking trash in there, calling him a “little bitch” and criticising his punches.
Chisora then thanks Fury for phoning him and saying fight me, asserting that Usyk has to be next. Usyk comes into the ring, Fury calls him a “rabbit” then says “You’re next, little bitch”, calling him a “15-stone bodybuilder” and shouting “You ugly little man” in his face; “End you! End you!” he offers next as Usyk remains impassive; “What you gonna do? You’re gonna do fuckall!” he shouts, then Joe Joyce comes into the ring, Fury saying he’s the only man who calls Joyce’s name, and if Usyk won’t do it, those two should meet at Wembley Stadium. Boxing!
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The men embrace and that’s nice to see. I’d love to see Fury against Usyk, who seems like the only fighter around with the skills to cause him problems –and even then, the power and reach differential will be a massive issue for him. Fury has every chance of doing a Rocky Marciano and a Joe Calzaghe, retiring undefeated.
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The crowd boo and I’ve no idea why, except people are people. Fury is just a brilliant fighter, and Chisora did everything he could – which wasn’t much, but it doesn’t reflect on him, it reflects how good his opponent was and is.
Tyson Fury stops Derek Chisora in the tenth round to retain his WBC world heavyweight title!
Round 10: Chisora comes out for another three minutes of suffering because that’s what he does, but Victor Loughlin, the ref, is looking at him closely. One more serious dig might do it, but instead he swings to the body and lands a couple, as Fury sticks him with a far more serious right to the coupon; a coupon that looks increasingly unlike how it looked half an hour ago … and the ref says enough!
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Round 9 Chisora has some serious stickability but he’s out of his depth – as almost everyone else in the division would be. Fury throws, Fury lands, then Chisora misses with a home-run swing, gets put on the stanky legg by a nasty right, and I wonder if the corner will call this here. Guardian scorecard: Fury 10-9 Chisora
Round 8: Chisora, eyes bloodshot, I think, and his right semi-closed, forces himself up off a stool that must feel like the comfiest seat in the world. Eeesh, Fury lands a nails right hook, steps in again, turns the chin again, then gets Chisora in the corner, chucks hands, and sticks his tongue out at Bunce. Chisora is eating so much punishment and, it must be said, hasn’t actually been in the kind of trouble that forces the ref to step in. I’d not mind if he did because of the constant punishment, but there’s not been that moment of this is obviously too much. Guardian scorecard: Fury 10-9 Chisora
Round 7: Chisora comes out and chucks shots, but there’s no real venom behind them. He does, though, land a few to the body and maybe that’s the impetus Fury needs to put an end to this. I’ve only just noticed that Fury’s white towelling socks are pulled up well high – you can tell him – and he gets his man on the ropes, then lands a nasty dig with each hand, a brace of backhand lefts, then left uppercuts, and how much more can Chisora wear? He’s got a heart and chin, which is actually a kind of disturbing thing to say because really it means has the ability to wear potentially life-worsening power. Guardian scorecard: Fury 10-9 Chisora
Round 6: Sat in his corner, Chisora looks pretty out of it – as you might if the best heavyweight of the era had played pat-a-cake with your chevy chase. It’s a weird thing, really: the punishment is just below what would make a corner call it off, but there’s only one thing going down here, and it’s more beating about the head for Chisora. Fury lands a red right hand then hides chin behind shoulder and the way he moves is just freakish. He’s so light on his feet and the handspeed is crazy, these flicked backhanded lefts supported by concussive rights. Guardian scorecard: Fury 10-9 Chisora
Round 5: Bunce reckons Fury was measured in that last round because he’s trying take take Chisora out clean, rather than punish him with a serious beating. It’s a while since Chisora landed anything of note, and as I type that, Fury gets in and out with a one-two – he’s so quick for such a gigantic individual – and it feels like he can end this whenever he really wants to. I guess another reason for his circumspection is that he needs to make sire he’s not caught with a Hail Mary, and he sends Chisora lurching towards the corner with another right. This isn’t any kind of contest. Guardian scorecard: Fury 10-9 Chisora
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Round 4: Chisora’s corner told him he needs to jab to back Fury up, problem being Fury can do likewise from further away. Del does land one, but it barely registers with Fury, who’s boxing more classically now, setting up the backhand behind the jab; he’s taken the first half of the round off, really, and I wonder if we’ll see him explode towards the end. Well, not yet, with 45 seconds left – I guess Fury knows he’ll win if it goes to the scorecards so can afford to take a blow, and even though he has, this is still his round – just not with an exclamation mark after it. Guardian scorecard: Fury 10-9 Chisora
Round 3: Again, Fury backs Chisora into a corner and he wants this finished. He lands a right, then pulls back his fist and waves it like a cartoon baddie. Eeek! Chisora windmills a few but nothing serious lands before Fury uncorks a few more digs you’d sooner miss if you were being honest, while Bunce says he’s not enjoying how many clean shots Chisora is eating. In particular, Fury’s uppercut is doing damage, and the two wrestle each other to the ground – I wonder if Fury did that on purpose to have Chisora carry his weight then have to get up. I’m not sure this is going on for much longer, because though, Chisora isn’t in trouble, he’s taking punishment. Guardian scorecard: Fury 10-9 Chisora
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Round 2: We have congress once more, and Chisora lends a long, looping right with which Fury seems fine. But when Chisora whiffs with another, he eats an uppercut for his trouble, and I might be typing that again sometime soon. These two are mates and they’re fighting like it, desperate to impose their will so they can laugh about it afterwards, and Fury steps away, lands a check-hook, then an uppercut, and Chisora is in minor trouble, a little stunned but not swaying. But he can’t get out of the corner, guzzling a left uppercut – I think Fury is kiaiing every punch that lands – and though he’s not saved by the bell, I’m certain he’s grateful for it. Guardian scorecard: Fury 10-9 Chisora
Round 1: The pair have vowed to stand in the middle and go at it, and when they meet they just don’t look the same division. But it’s Chisora backing Fury up into the corner and hurling leather, then they move and Fury wears shots to the midsection. But then Fury gets him in open space and gets those levers going, landing shots to the swede. Chisora gets low, and I guess it’s hard to punch down, rather than straight or up, but Fury has been the better man through the second half of the stanza and already it’s clear – if it wasn’t before – that Chisora is hoping for a fight-altering dig. He’s not going to end this with weight of blows. Guardian scorecard: Fury 10-9 Chisora
The crowd go absolutely wild for Fury, now having his layers removed – among them an England shirt. He looks so calm and, indeed so big. They are going to altercate!
We have the national anthem, now the intros, and it’s nearly tiiiiiiiime!
OK, you’ve twisted my arm. My favourite…
It’s clever, though – the crowd is absolutely jumping, singing along, so they turn down the PA and let them take it away.
Ah, another seamless mix, right into Mr Brightside. It’s like someone’s put their iPod on shuffle.
Fury has taken note of London’s parky temperature, and is wearing robe, bobble hat and layers. He comes in to Nick Cave’s Red Right Hand, the Peaky Blinders theme, complete with personalised voiceover, segueing into Three Lions.
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“A gorgeous robe,” says Steve Bunce of Del, and now here’s Tyson!
Tunewise he picks Bob Marley’s Zimbabwe – he was born in Harare – and I cannot fathom the feelings of taking that walk.
Here comes Chisora! Over a decade after fighting Vitali Klitchko for the title, he’s back contesting the strap and comes out in a green sequinned Santa cloak. Of course he does!
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“You can literally cut the atmosphere or tension in here with a knife,” offers Darren Fletcher. I prefer an atmosphere-cutter myself, but different folks, different strokes. Anyroad up, here’s Jimmy Lennon to introduce our fighters! It is on!
Lovely, it’s (almost) tiiiiime. People are absolutely buzzing for this, and I daresay Daniel Levy and Joe Lewis are feeling pleased with themselves. It took a while, but the Spurs ground is very special.
We’re just a few minutes away from the ring walks, and they’re cranking up Sweet Caroline over the PA. This should be a really exciting tussle – I doubt it sees the final bell, and if you’re pushing me, I’m going Fury in five.
Elsewhere: Argentina have beaten an extremely game Australia 2-1, and meet Netherlands in the last eight. Tasty!
We see VT of Fury, who explains that at his lowest, he realised he needed the purpose that boxing gives him – of people counting on him every day to get to work an “open up shop”. He has said some deeply problematic things, but he’s absolute box-office, and has done tremendous things got mental health awareness.
“Why is this so ridiculously expensive?” wonders Michael Avery. “I could get a month’s worth of rice and three for this money.”
Manchester la la la! I agree, the way they make you pay when you’ve already paid is not pleasant, and it rankles especially hard when the money BT have to pay for rights comes from their historical monopoly of telecommunications. In most arenas, monopolies are bad, but when it comes to televised sports rights, it just means fans have to spend more money.
Frampton has an interesting point of view, saying that after round one, Dubois told his corner he didn’t know what’d happened, and in his opinion, when a fighter is confused like that, they need to be saved from themselves and taken out of the bout. It looks like it’s all fine because Dubois won, but to him, that’s not them protecting his best interests. Lennox, though disagrees, saying they should’ve just told him what happened, and calls the punch a wake-up shot; he was much better thereafter, so all good.
Frank Warren, Dubois’ promoter, is happy with his charge. Dubois showed he has heart and power, while Lerena is no mug, and if the knee isn’t too bad they’ll look to set up the next step for early next year.
Dubois says it was amazing. He got caught on the top of the head, did he ankle, listened to his team and went back to boxing. That’s a fair point – his corner was so calm, authoritative and sensible – and Dubois concludes that bit of the interview that “shit happens”. Indeed it does.
Shane McGuigan, a hero of that fight, tells us it’s a knee not an ankle, and it’s swollen. His heart was in his mouth, but Dubois walked Lerena onto his straight right, and that was the fight. McGuigan goes on to mention Dillian Whyte as a potential next opponent – I’d be amazed if he put his man in with Usyk next – but anything that happens happens post-scan, and knee ligaments take a while to heal.
Dubois displays his WBA (regular) belt, and he’s setting himself for a future fight with Usyk. Real talk, I don’t think he’s ready for that yet, but with power and finishing instinct like that, he’s a danger to anyone. People doubted DDD’s heart after the Joyce fight, but it’s a nonsense – you don’t get to where he got to without plenty. That was a bazzer of a row, and I can’t wait to see who he fights next.
Goodness me, that was extremely prejudicial finishing from Dubois. Once he had Lerena hurt, he did not let him away, and although the ref might’ve given Lerena a break between rounds to recover, his primary concern has to be for the fighter’s safety, so I’d rarely complain about a premature stoppage – certainly not that one.
Daniel Dubois beats Kevin Lerena by TKO!
Round 3: McGuigan tells Dubois that because of his ankle he needs to let Lerena come to him, as we see footage of the first knockdown again and it was indeed a crack to the top of the head and, as DDD staggered backwards, he took an awkward step and hurt himself. It’s funny how sometimes, it’s innocuous-looking shots that do the most damage – of all those we’ve seen so far, the one that did the damage did not look like the one I’d least like to absorb – but here we are. Dubois lands a couple of decent digs to the body AND DUBOIS SITS LERERENA WITH A COLOSSAL RIGHT DOWN THE PIPE! HE UNLOADS ALL OVER HIM, AN ARCADE-STYLE RIGHT UPPERCUT SENDING LERENA TO LALA LAND, LERENA GOES DOWN IN THE FINAL SECOND OF THE ROUND AND THE REF CALLS IT OFF! WHAT A COMEBACK BY DUBOIS! WHAT HEART, WHAT POWER!
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Round 2: Between rounds, Dubois tells his corner he’s got an ankle situation, right as his corner tells him to get on his bike and stay out the road while his head clears, jabs and nae hooks. After a minute or so, Dubois lands a few solid efforts to the body, and perhaps his head’s clearing, but he’s kind of hopping around, ankle jiggered. And of course, it won’t just hinder his movement but his power, if he can’t sit down on his shots and throw from his tippy-toes. He nails Lerena with a decent left to the temple, and I think was the superior fighter there. Guardian score: Dubois 10-9 Lerena
Round 1: Off the bat, we see Lerena’s issue: there’s a distance from which Dubois can hit and not be hit. Lerena can steam in, or try and elude the jab, but WHAT ON EARTH AM I TALKING ABOUT, BECAUSE LERENA CATCHES DUBOIS! Dubois lands a shot, then Lerena seems to stick him on top of the head, Dubois goes down, Lerena keeps on him, knocks him down twice more, and Dubois’ corner have a lot of work to do! What a round for the underdog! Guardian score: Dubios 8-10 Lerena
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And off we go!
Dubois’ gown is niiiice, black with sparkles and not unlike Nigel Benn’s finest rig.
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…and here comes Dubois!
Righto, here comes Lerena…
I love listening to boxers breaking stuff down, and we’ve currently got Lennox, David Haye and Carl Frampton talking about the need – Dubois’ need – to relax. Haye tells us that before he went out, he’d watch Lennox to remind himself to relax, and Lennox says that George Foreman was forever saying he needed to jab more. Frampton then puts hands up to show the difference between a tight fighter and one fluid and relaxed – as he was – and the chemical miracle of people who can totally override the adrenaline of being in a ruck to slow everything down is just mind-boggling.
Lerena has come up to heavy from cruiser and this is his fourth fight at the weight. His career record is 14-0, and he knows what he’s doing, but he’ll need to keep out the road of Dubois, who is the much bigger and more powerful man. He’s come on a lot since losing to Joe Joyce – and kudos to him for knowing when enough was enough – and we’re seeing footage of his dressing room right now, in which Shane McGuigan is reminding him to stick behind his jab. If he can, and set up his big back hand, he’s got every chance of winning tonight.
Yup, Berinchyk has UD’d Mendy, so let’s get back to Lerena v Dubois…
Gordon Ramsey is in the crowd. Imagine he idiot sandwiched someone and it turned out they had hands.
Currently, we’re watching Yvan Mendy of USA against Denys Berinchyk of Ukraine in a lightweight bout. They’re in the 12th of 12 and Berinchyk looks set for a points win to me, in what’s been a bit of a messy scrap. But coming up next we’ve got what should be a barnburner: Kevin Lerena v Daniel Dubois, for the WBA (regular) heavyweight title.
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Of course, we might still get that Fury v Joshua chat – if I’m the latter, I’m delaying as long as possible to improve as much as I can, and formulate the perfect strategy. And even if we don’t, the prospect of Fury taking on Oleksandr Usyk is extremely enticing … though I can’t overstate enough that all it takes is one badabing of a shot from Chisora, and we’re having different conversations entirely.
Preamble
It can be hard not to think the international community needs to come together and institute international law to ensure that we see the fights we need to see, when we need to see them. Because, if we’re being real, the plan for this slot was us watching Tyson Fury avoiding– or not avoiding – bombs, while standing Anthony Joshua on his head .
But instead we’re getting Fury v Chisora III, which should also be a lot of fun – so let’s dive in. Fury leads the series 2-0 and is, for my money, the world’s best heavyweight since Lennox Lewis – another who’d have benefitted from Geneva, the Hague and all the other lads getting involved to ensure he fought Riddick Bowe when both were at their peak. But ultimately, no one has the right to compel anyone to take that walk and Lewis still has Razor Ruddock, Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson and Vitali Klitchko on his resume, whereas Fury has Wladimir Klitchko, Deontay Wilder, and not loads else.
Nevertheless he remains a brilliant boxer, the skills of a lifetime’s experience backed up by serious power and unfathomable mental strength. I’m sure Chisora has a plan for dealing with that – I’ve no idea what it might be because Fury looks impregnable. However, this is heavyweight boxing and, as Lewis can testify, sometimes, mad stuff just happens.
Ring walks: 9.15pm GMT
