“Derek was one tough guy and never stopped coming until the end,” heavyweight Joseph Parker claimed after beating an exceedingly game Derek Chisora in their Saturday rematch at the Manchetser AO Arena. “He’s a credit to the sport of boxing,” Parker continued, “and the crowd went mental when he walked out – they just want to support him.” Sure enough, the English crowd showed up to see their countryman, Chisora, take care of business. Chisora wasn’t able to walk out with a win, but he and Parker certainly put on a good show.

Parker controlled the tempo in the first. Chisora landed well in the second…but so did Parker. In fact, it was Parker who managed to unload on his foe during the chapter. Chisora was hurt by his man in the third, but kept fighting gamely – a sign of things to come. Parker put his man down on the ropes in the fourth. Chisora survived, and had a much better fifth. He then went toe to toe with Parker in the sixth.

Yet Parker dropped Chisora again in the seventh. Once again, however, Chisora got up and performed gamely. Things solwed down a bit in the eighth, as both men had been throwing heavy leather. Before the round was over, however, Chisora was dropped on the ropes again…yet again, Chisora survived the round. Parker fought patiently in the ninth, while Chisora was able to keep from getting hurt. By the tenth, however, Chisora was fighting aggressively.

Feeling the fight was essentially his, Parker decided to cruise in the eleventh, allowing Chisora to land well. Parker fired and landed effectively in the twelfth. Chisora responded in kind, but it wasn’t enough to pull out the win. Parker walked out of the ring with a unanimous decision in on his resume, courtesy of the judges.

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