#9 ranked IBF heavyweight contender Derek Chisora (36-13, 23 KOs) pulled out a miracle 12-round unanimous decision win over #12 Otto Wallin (27-3, 15 KOs) in an IBF title eliminator to lock himself in as the mandatory for champion Daniel Dubois on Saturday night at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England.
The fight looked close going into the 12th round, but the 41-year-old Chisora dropped Wallin with a right hand to seal the victory. In the 9th, Chisora had knocked Wallin with a right hand.
The judges’ scores were 117-109, 114-112 and 116-110.
Chisora was cut over his right eye early in the fight and fought in spurts near each round’s ends to conserve energy. It wasn’t great stuff from him, but Wallin was worse. He had no power and was mostly showing weak punches. He’d obviously been picked well by Chisora’s management. They’d clearly vetted Wallin.
Undercard Results
Middleweight Sofiane Khati (18-5, 4 KOs) had too much firepower for Nathan Heaney (18-2-1, 6 KOs), stopping in the seventh round of a 12-round scheduled fight. Khati knocked the bloody and battered Heaney down with two hard right hands in the seventh. The fight was stopped after a follow-up barrage of punches from Khati. The time was 1:08.
British, Commonwealth, and WBC International silver light welterweight champion Jack Rafferty (25-0, 16 KOs) easily defeated an overmatched Reece MacMillan (17-2, 2 KOs), stopping him in the seventh round. McMillan’s corner threw in the towel after he took a couple of big right hands from Rafferty in the seventh. The time of the stoppage was at 1:37.
Light heavyweight Zach Parker (26-1, 18 KOs) won his fourth consecutive fight with a tougher-than-expected 10-round unanimous decision against Mickhael Diallo ( 21-2-2, 18 KOs). Parker, 30, boxed and moved throughout the contest, showing no interest in sitting down on his shots for fear of being clipped by Diallo. Both guys were cut and bleeding everywhere.
The judges’ scores were 98-92, 98-93, and 97-94. This was not the kind of performance that Parker needed to show that he was ready to be matched against a more formidable opponent. Indeed, if Parker was in there with someone with a little more talent, he’d have lost tonight.
British featherweight champion Zak Miller (16-1, 3 KO) beat Commonwealth champ Masood Abdulah (11-1, 7 KOs) by a 12-round majority decision in a razor-close fight. The judges’ scores were 114-114, 115-114, and 115-113.
Heavyweight Lewis Williams (2-0, 1 KO) looked impressive, beating Christian Uwaka (1-5, 1 KO) by a four-round points victory. The score was 40-36 by referee Steve Gray. Williams, 26, hit Uwaka with everything but the kitchen sink but couldn’t get him out of there.
