Highlights: Derek Chisora upsets Joe Joyce in thumping action fight

Derek Chisora held on and landed a fight-changing punch to take an upset victory over Joe Joyce.

Derek Chisora, 40 years old and fighting for the 49th time as a professional, survived 10 brutal rounds to upset Joe Joyce in a delightfully fun action main event from London.

Other than the upset victory for Chisora (35-13, 23 KO), this was exactly what was expected: Two men, a combined 78 years and 538 lbs., lumbering and pummeling each other from start to finish. The first clinch came in the opening 10 seconds. Both men looked winded by Round 3. Defense was coincidental, with Joyce (16-3, 15 KO) blocking power shots with his face, and both of Chisora’s eyes swelling significantly after just a few rounds.

They say power is the last thing to go, but Joyce made the case that a skull like a cement block might be second-to-last. Chisora landed multiple punches as hard and clean as any of his knockout victories, but couldn’t break Joyce. Joyce did look like he reacted more than he used to in the pre-Zhang era, but was more interrupted than hurt by them. Of course, it’s tough to slow someone down when their speed already tops out where it does for Joyce.

We got a thriller of a finish, with Chisora hurt badly late in the 8th, staggered again at the start of the 9th, and Joyce chasing him from corner to corner, clubbing him at will. Chisora looked ready to fall down on multiple occasions, but bounced off the ropes like a WWE fighter and blasted a right hand straight down the pipe that put Joyce on the canvas with about a minute left in the 9th. It was the only punch of the round that Chisora won, but it may have swung the result.

Fantastic action both ways in the 10th and final round saw Chisora doing his most damaging work at the end of the fight. Despite looking wrecked with two rounds to go, Chisora sent it to the judges, who all saw it his way on scores of 97-92, 96-94, and 96-94.

Chisora declined to go into retirement on this result, saying afterward that this is not his last fight. He’ll fight a 50th and final time in Manchester in December.

Ryan Garner UD-10 Archie Sharp

Gritty victory for Ryan Garner, who remains undefeated with a decision win over Archie Sharp in the chief support. Sharp (25-1, 9 KO) looked good early, creating space with the popping jab and smart movement. But Garner (16-0, 8 KO) took control of things after Sharp suffered a pair of cuts by his left eye from clashes of heads in the 4th round.

It was all ‘veteran tactics’ from there, with Garner constantly scraping his forehead and glove across Sharp’s cuts in the clinch. And there were plenty of clinches in the back half of the fight. Sharp did land some heavy counters, but didn’t have enough on them to stop or slow Garner down.

Official scores were 98-92, 97-93, 97-93 in favor of Garner. Sharp suffers his first pro defeat, and Garner retains his minor WBC title.

Moses Itauma TKO-2 Mariusz Wach

Itauma (10-0, 8 KO) with a quick, meaningless demolition here, putting Mariusz Wach down in Round 2 and forcing the stoppage by pummeling Wach in the corner after he dragged himself back up.

Wach (38-11, 20 KO) is 44 and hasn’t a particularly great 9 year run leading up to this fight. He’s four years older than ESPN+ color commentator Tim Bradley, who retired from pro boxing eight years ago. But, hey, now Itauma has a name on his record that will impress anyone who last watched a fight 10-12 years ago.

Dennis McCann UD-12 Ionut Baluta

Dennis McCann (16-0-1, 8 KO) picked up the win on wide scores in his rematch with Ionut Baluta. McCann exited with a technical draw after his 2023 fight with Baluta (16-5-1, 3 KO) ended early due to a bad cut from a clash of heads. But, this one was never close in the eyes of the judges, with McCann claiming official scorecards of 120-108, 117-111, and 117-111.