Dillian Whyte took a step closer to a rematch with Anthony Joshua after beating Dereck Chisora for the second time in a slugfest of a British heavyweight fight with an 11th round stoppage.
Whyte started the better of the two men and was probably ahead after the first two rounds. Chisora though was the better man in a third round that lived up to all expectations.
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Both men were going toe to toe with each other and exchanging big shots as the crowd encouraged them to throw more.
The fourth saw much of the same with the two Brits swinging hard and looking knackered at the end of the round.
Chisora simply wouldn't go away and the fifth round saw him come forward time and time again. At the end of the sixth the two men could barely be split with Whyte arguably landing some of the crisper stuff but Chisora being all action.
The pace did seem to drop at the start of the second half of the round but there were still some big shots being thrown and landed. Whyte seemed to hurt Chisora with a body shot in the eighth.
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'War' was then deducted a point for a low shot, having previously been warned.
Chisora landed a brilliant right hook on the temple of 'Bodysnatcher' in the ninth as the relentless nature of the fight continued towards the championship rounds.
It seemed that Whyte, the younger man, was looking the fresher man in the 10th round but Chisora refused to yield or take a back step, constantly coming forward at his opponent.
In the 11th Chisora was once again deducted a point for an elbow but soon it didn't matter as he was put out cold by Whyte.
Two years ago, in December 2016, Whyte and Chisora met on the undercard of Anthony Joshua's defence of his IBF title against Eric Molina in Manchester.
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The headline might have been AJ but it was the other two British heavyweights who grabbed the headlines, with the two men putting on an absolute slobberknocker of a fight.
The contest was even with a split decision that saw Whyte win on two of the cards, by one point and two points, and Chisora winning on the third judges card, by two points.
It was expected that the win for Whyte might lead to another fight with Joshua, this time with a title on the line, whilst a fight with Deontay Wilder has also been talked about since.
Each man impressed on their last outing back in July. Chisora stopped Carlos Takam, one of AJ's recent opponents, with an impressive stoppage in the 8th round after the Frenchman had dominated.
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Whyte, in the main event that evening, then put on an impressive display against former world titlist Joseph Parker despite the New Zealander putting the Brit on the mat in the 12th round.
In 2016 the atmosphere between the two heavyweights had been extremely tense with Chisora throwing a table at Whyte in the pre fight press conference, narrowly missing Eddie Hearn with it.
This time things had been better, despite Chisora signing with former rival David Haye, who is extremely combustible.
On Friday though 'War,' who changed his nickname from the previous 'Del Boy,' started a right schmozzle after the weigh in. There was pushing and Whyte was taken away by security as his opponent shouted at Whyte's brother for a fight.
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In the end though that was all irrelevant once the two men got in the ring. It'll be interesting to see what is next for both me.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Heavyweight boxing, Dereck Chisora, Tyson Fury, Joseph Parker, Boxing News, Anthony Joshua, Dillian Whyte, Deontay Wilder
