In the three feature heavyweight bouts at the weekend at the O2 in Greenwich, London, Dillian Whyte, Dereck Chisora and David Price all produced exceptional performances in their respective Victories.. First up was the former British, European and Commonwealth champion, the veteran Dereck Chisora 31-9 (22 Ko’s) taking on fellow former world title challenger Artur Szpilka 22-4 (15 Ko’s) in what appeared a classic pick em fight.. Szpilka’s southpaw style looked certain to offer a few challenges to the usually slow starting Chisora, but after a careful opener, Chisora started to roll the dice at the beginning of the second, pressuring the aggressive pole with perpetual motion firing clusters of punches, Szpilka backed himself into the ropes halfway through the session, and Dereck threw a decoy left to the body followed by a damaging right hook to the head.. Hurt badly Artur recoiled cautiously, only for Chosora to land accurate successive right hands to knockout the visitor at 1:02 of the 2nd..
Next up was the very colourful Dave Allen 17-5-2 (14 Ko’s) stepping up to face the huge punching Liverpool heavyweight David Price 25-6 (20 Ko’s).. Allen at one time would have been leagues beneath Price, but of late the match saw both fighters have a lot in common and a whole lot to prove.. On this night, David Price put on a masterclass, he boxed purposefully behind a stabbing jab and literally manipulated Allen throughout the majority of the fight.. Allen did attempt to draw Price into the pocket by holding his hands low as a lure, yet the huge 2008 Olympian held his feet and used every inch of his physical advantages to overwhelm the much smaller man.. By round 5 in was evident that the Doncaster man was on his way to a painful loss if he didn’t alter his game-plan.. Price remained steadfast and began walking Allen onto huge right hands, opening a cut above his right eye.. by round 7 the eye became swollen to the point that Allen was struggling to avoid some of Prices bigger shots.. Allen resorted to swinging huge overhand rights in desperation, only to find himself on the end of stabbing right hands and debilitating body shots.. at the conclusion of a torrid 9th round Allen returned to his corner complaining to Darren Barker that he could barely see.. The chief second indicated to the referee to call a halt with his fighter literally incapable of turning the fight around.. A jubilant David Price celebrated what he described as his redemption victory, a win that may have kept him relevant enough to earn himself decent money against a marquee name.. Price has always threatened to produce a performance like this, and to deliver on a night where it meant the most on a live Tv show is priceless at this point in his career..
Finally in the main event, WBC Silver champion Dillian Whyte 26-1 (18 Ko’s) faced the very dangerous Canadian based Colombian Oscar Rivas 26-0 (18 Ko’s) for the legitimate right to fight for the WBC heavyweight championship.. Whyte started very professionally, using range well behind the jab, keeping the smaller visitor uncomfortable with a controlled effectiveness.. Whyte stood his ground more in the second and found the first breakthrough at the halfway point in the round when he hurt Rivas with a stiff right hand off the jab, Whyte unloaded a ruthless onslaught that Oscar did very well to weather.. Whyte maintained his composure through the middle rounds, breaking Rivas heart by brushing off some of his best efforts.. Following an exceptional 8th round where he hurt and demoralised the now tiring Rivas, Whyte found himself on the floor in the 9th from a sneaky right uppercut in the opening minute of the round.. Whyte shook off the shocking knockdown to regain control of the rest of the round.. Clearly ahead, Dillian boxed intelligently for the remainder of the fight, leaving Rivas with only the desperation of a last minute miracle... Whyte overcame the obvious late onslaught to register one of his most impressive victories to date, securing a mandatory number 1 spot with the WBC and adding the WBC interim belt to his collection with a unanimous points verdict 115-112, 115-112, 116-111, over an extremely brave and lively customer...
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