Dillian Whyte may have secured a shot a world heavyweight title in 2019 thanks to an emphatic knockout over Dereck Chisora in their rematch.
Whyte defeated Chisora with a knockout in the 11th round in the main event of a Matchroom Boxing card from the O2 Arena in London. Whyte retained the WBC Silver and WBO International heavyweight titles. The fight, which aired in the United States on Showtime, was a rematch from their 2016 encounter that saw Whyte win by split decision.
Chisora started off well, outworking Whyte and landing numerous body shots. Whyte struggled in the first few rounds to land any of his power punches, but proved he was the stronger puncher in the few moments he did land punches in the first several rounds.
As the fight got deeper, Chisora would start to tire out and eventually threw illegal punches, some to the back of Whyte’s head, below the belt and even some headbutts. Despite multiple warnings from the referee, Chisora continued with the fouls and was later deducted a point. By the time the second half of the fight started, Whyte was able to land the right hand and hurt Chisora at times.
In the 11th round, Chisora was exhausted, but still did enough fouls to warrant a second point deducted from him thanks to an elbow from below that landed on Whyte’s chin. It ultimately did not matter as Whyte connected with a vicious left hook to Chisora’s chin and promptly knocked him out for good.
Once the dust settled and Chisora left the ring to be treated, Whyte decided to call out unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, who was serving as a commentator for the fight. Joshua would go on to the ring to respond and said his number one priority is WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, but if he cannot get a fight against Wilder for next April, then he would consider fighting Whyte.
Joshua and Whyte had fought once as pros back in 2015 but that first fight was for the British, Commonwealth and WBC International heavyweight titles and not for a world title. Joshua emerged victorious with a seventh-round knockout victory and later moved on to win multiple world titles.
