Dereck Chisora delivers stunning knockout to beat Carlos Takam
Dereck Chisora revived his career with a shock eighth-round stoppage of French-Cameroonian Carlos Takam.
The heavyweight took significant punishment and was being outworked by an opponent Anthony Joshua was unable to put down when a huge right hand sent Takam to the canvas and another secured perhaps his finest ever victory.
The mainstay of British boxing leapt on the ropes to soak in the feel-good atmosphere generated by a crowd who have followed his career for a decade and willed him into extending it further.
Chisora was in serious danger inside the first round, which exploded into a brawl fought in his corner. Takam established himself as the bigger and stronger bully, pinning Chisora to the ropes and repeatedly hurting him with punches at close quarters.
Chisora survived, buoyed by a crowd singing the name of a boxer so often portrayed as the villain, and refused to sit down between rounds.
The experienced Londoner needed every ounce of his toughness to get through the second round as Takam again proved the more attacking fighter.
Chisora was savvy enough to stay in the fight into the middle rounds, by which time it became clear he was dangerous with single punches of his own. The left hook, in particular, found a home in the fifth round.
But Takam, who had been knocked out in the past by a hook from Alexander Povetkin, maintained a high work-rate that seemed to be wearing Chisora down.
A sensational sixth round saw the fans willing Chisora, aged 34, to roll back the years - he was shipping punishment to the extent where the referee Howard Foster considered stopping the fight, but then showboated by relaxing on the ropes. Somehow, he ended the exchange as the aggressor.
Then out of nowhere, an overhand right from Chisora clumped Takam on the top of his head in the eighth round. Takam got up but a similar punch hit him moments later and finished the fight in stunning fashion.
Chisora, trademark Union Jack covering his face post-fight, earned the WBA international title and, in the context of his age and having gone 3-3 in his previous six outings, earned perhaps the result of a long career which had threatened to peter out.
