Derek Chisora faces Otto Wallin tonight in a 12-round IBF heavyweight title eliminator to determine the mandatory for champion Daniel Dubois at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England. The two will be the main event. Tonight’s event will be shown live on DAZN starting at 1:30 p.m. ET.
Round 1: Chisora mostly came forward, eating shots from Wallin and mauling on the inside without landing anything significant. It was a clear round by Wallin. The 41-year-old Chisora looking all of his age.
Round 2: Wallin caught Chisora with two big lefts as he was coming in late in the round. The second left appeared to hurt Chisora, who fell into a clinch. It was a clear round by Wallin.
Round 3: The referee warned Chisora for rabbit punching early in the round. Derek tried to play it off, arguing that he was being held, but it was clear that he’d intentionally been hitting Wallin behind the head. Chisora came back to land several nice right hands to take the round. Wallin was mostly moving and throwing weak shots. He doesn’t look confident. It’s clear why Chisora chose Wallin. He has no power.
Round 4: Derek was the aggressor throughout the round, throwing slow, looping shots that mostly missed, but enough of them landed on the head of Wallin to take the round. Wallin connected with some nice lefts, but he was letting himself get backed up to the ropes too frequently.
Round 5: Wallin landed some powerful left hands to the head of Chisora late in the round. One of them opened a cut over the right eye of Chisora, who looked uncomfortable as the round ended. A clear round for Wallin.
Results
– Middleweight Sofiane Khati (18-5, 4 KOs) stopped Nathan Heaney (18-2-1, 6 KOs) in the seventh round. Khati dropped Heaney with two right hands moments after the 35-year-old had lost his mouthpiece. The referee stopped the action to allow Heaney’s mouthpiece to be reinserted. Heaney looked badly hurt and gamely fought back in a brutal exchange with Khati, but the referee, Bob Williams, had no choice but to wave it off. Heaney was getting shelled heavily against the ropes in the final sequence. The time of the stoppage was at 1:08. The loss for Heaney was his second in a row, and it put his career in bad shape.
– British, Commonwealth, and WBC International silver light welterweight champion Jack Rafferty (25-0, 16 KOs) defeated Reece MacMillan (17-2, 2 KOs) by a seventh-round technical knockout. Rafferty, 29, hurt MacMillan with a right hand that backed him up against the ropes. He then nailed him again, resulting in MacMillan’s corner throwing in the towel. The time of the stoppage was at the 1:37 mark. MacMillan had hurt the final seconds of the sixth and was being shelled by Rafferty as the bell sounded. The fight arguably should have been stopped after the round, but MacMillan’s corner let him come out for the seventh.
– Light heavyweight Zach Parker (26-1, 18 KOs) won an unimpressive 10-round unanimous decision over Mickhael Diallo ( 21-2-2, 18 KOs) in a blood bath. Both fighters were cut, with Parker getting the worst of it with a gash over his right eye. Referee Victor Loughlin was covered with blood. The scores were 98-92, 98-93 and 97-94. An exhausted Parker, 30, was worn from pressure that was put on him by Diallo and falling down repeatedly. He was lucky that Diallo wasn’t a bigger puncher.
– British featherweight champion Zak Miller (16-1, 3 KO) defeated Commonwealth champ Masood Abdulah (11-1, 7 KOs) by a 12-round majority decision. The scores were 114-114, 115-114, and 115-113.
– 6’7″ heavyweight prospect Lewis Williams (2-0, 1 KO) put on a masterclass, defeating Christian Uwaka (1-5, 1 KO) by a one-sided four-round points decision. The score was 40-36. Williams, 27, hit Uwaka at will with shots and did not have to deal with much in return from the overmatched opponent.
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The 41-year-old Chisora (35-13, 23 KOs) hopes to be victorious to set himself up for a title shot. His goal is to reach 50 fights, but a lot will be determined by how tonight’s fight against Wallin (27-2, 15 KOs) goes.
Wallin is taller, younger, at 34, and more gifted than Chisora. He can make this an easy fight to ruin Derek’s goal of reaching 50 fights and getting another title shot. Most boxing fans would agree that Chisora doesn’t deserve to fight for a world title, and it would look unsporting if he faced Dubois.
Fight Action on DAZN, 1:30 pm ET
Derek Chisora vs. Otto Wallin
Maso Abdulah vs. Zak Miller
Jack Rafferty vs. Reece MacMillan
Nathan Heaney vs. Sofiane Khati
Nelson Hysa vs. Todorche Cvetkov
Last Updated on 02/08/2025
2025-02-08 20:50:12
