Derek Chisora (35-13, 23 KOs) gave everything he had to come away with a unanimous decision win against Joe Joyce (16-3, 15 KOs).
Scores for the bout were 97-92 and 96-94 (x2). From the opening bell, Chisora swung at Joyce, an approach that helped him win rounds on the judge’s scorecards. He was also aided by a ninth-round knockdown. Despite looking worse for wear, more than Joyce, Chisora’s approach proved effective enough to get him the victory.
The two headlined aQueensberry Promotionsevent at the O2 Arena. Fight fans in the United Kingdom could catch the action live on TNT Sports. Those in the United States were able to do so on ESPN+.
Fight Recap
It did not take long for both fighters to begin clinching in the opening round. Chisora’s approach was to swing punches at Joyce, an approach that gave him some success. However, Joyce’s timing allowed him to land clean.
By the time the fight got to the middle rounds, Chisora looked exhausted. Whenever Joyce stayed at range, he was able to land his punches. However, his lack of head movement also made him susceptible to Chisora’s swinging rights and lefts. While Joyce did the better boxing, Chisora was landing the more eye-catching punches that appeared to win him the rounds. With less than a minute to go in round eight, Joyce stunned Chisora, who was on the retreat until the ring of the bell but still tried to swing shots in.
Against the run of play, a swinging right hand from Chisora sent Joyce to the canvas in round nine. Despite looking very exhausted, Chisora never gave up on his approach. It was exactly how he had fought since round one. He continued to land hand, swinging punches till the final bell. While both men had their hands up at the end of the fight, it was Chisora’s approach that the judges preferred, giving him the unanimous decision win.
DOWN GOES JOYCE. OH MY #JoyceChisora | LIVE on @ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/DI5MNHE6wg
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) July 27, 2024
Post-fight Interview
Derek Chisora
“London, I love you,”said Chisora after the bruising battle.“I love you London. I tell you what, I haven’t boxed for a year. So, I think we off a little bit. But I had to dig deep…From this crowd, I’m just glad I got a lot of fans in London. I want to thank Frank Warren for taking faith in me…”
“It’s not my last fight. I got two more…This is not my last fight. [It’s] my last fight in O2 Arena. So now I go to Manchester end of the year in December. But Joe, was a good fighter.”
Joe Joyce
“That was great,”said Joyce. “[You, Chisora]got a couple more left and that was fantastic, man. I enjoyed that fight.”
“That was great. I enjoyed the fight. I thought it was close apart from the knockdown…That was a brilliant performance he gave. I’m happy to share the ring with him. What a legend.”
Undercard Results
Ryan Garner (16-0, 8 KOs) won a unanimous decision against Archie Sharp (25-1, 9 KOs). Scores for the 10-round super featherweight fight were 98-92 and 97-93.
Moses Itauma (10-0, 8 KOs) won via technical knockout against Mariusz Wach (39-10, 21 KOs). The time of stoppagefor this 10-round heavyweight contest was 2:30.Itauma sent his opponent downonce in round two. A barrage of punches from him caused referee Michael Alexander to end proceedings.
Dennis McCann (16-0-1, 8 KOs) won a unanimous decision against Ionut Baluta (16-5-1, 3 KOs) in a 12-round super bantamweight clash. Scores were 120-108 and 117-111. With the win, McCann becomes the European super bantamweight champion.Baluta and McCann had fought to a technical drawin August last year.
Royston Barney-Smith (11-0, 5 KOs) won a unanimous decision against Brian Barajas (7-1-1, 3 KOs). Scores for the eight-round super featherweight fight were 79-73 and 78-74 (x2)
Sean Noakes (8-0, 4 KOs) won a unanimous decision against Inder Bassi (12-2, 1 KO). Scores for the 10-round welterweight clash were 97-94 and 96-94 (x2).
Opening the broadcast on TNT Sports, Aadam Hamed (2-0, 1 KO) won on points against Georgi Velichkov (4-21-1, 3 KOs). Referee Sean McAvoy had the four-round super lightweight bout 40-36.
Preliminary Undercard
On a portion of the undercard that was available onYouTube, Raven Chapman (9-0, 2 KOs) won a unanimous decision against Yohana Sarabia (10-1, 6 KOs). Scores for the 10-round featherweight clash were 100-90 across the board.
Brandun Lee(29-0, 23 KOs) won on points against Juan Anacona (11-1, 6 KOs) in an eight-round super lightweight bout. Referee Mark Bates had the fight 78-74.
Umar Khan (10-1, 0 KOs) won on points against Kaddour Hmiani (4-3-2, 2 KOs) in an eight-round featherweight clash. Referee McAvoy scored the fight 78-73. Hmiani went down from a right hand in round two.
Opening the broadcast, Jermaine Dhliwayo (1-0, 0 KOs) won on points against Engel Gomez (8-33-3, 4 KOs) in a four-round lightweight contest. Referee Bates scored the fight 40-36.
