Tyson Fury defended his WBC heavyweight world title and completed a trilogy of wins against his friend Dereck Chisora with a dominant display in London.
Referee Victor Loughlin stopped the fight during the tenth round, all of them won by Fury, as Chisora's brave resistance began to dwindle.
It was a one-sided fight from the opening bell and may raise questions as to why and how Chisora was allowed to spend almost 30 minutes being totally outclassed by a bigger and better fighter, who may now turn his attentions to Oleksandr Usyk.
Chisora meanwhile has now lost four of his last five fights and with his 39th birthday approaching, it remains to be seen whether this is his final act in the ring. If it is then it will again have demonstrated the toughness of Del Boy but that unwillingness to budge saw him face a long night of punishment from an opponent who is in a different league.
Fury, who retired from the sport in April, was beating Chisora for a third and surely final time and as a stepping stone towards a fight which Usyk which would justify the sort of pay-per-view price tag that was asked of boxing fans here.
If not Usyk then perhaps Joe Joyce, who stepped into the ring following the final bell, could be next for Fury, in a potential Wembley showdown. The sport would benefit from attention turning swiftly to that, and away from this.
Afterwards, Fury called out a grinning Usyk, snarling "You're next you little b***h. Let's get it on."
FURY AND USYK FACE OFF! 🤯#FuryChisora pic.twitter.com/T7hgrqekEA
— Boxing on BT Sport 🥊 (@BTSportBoxing) December 3, 2022
Fury dressed for the occasion
The event was not a sell-out but nevertheless almost 60,000 hardy souls braved the icy December weather to be in attendance.
Fury, in his first fight since ‘retiring’ after knocking out Dillian Whyte in front of 94,000 at Wembley in April, warmed up in his dressing room in an England shirt and walked out to ‘Three Lions’.
When the action got under way a punishing body shot momentarily left Chisora gasping for breath, and in the second round Fury began finding his target with more frequency.
Chisora gestured that he was not concerned by the onslaught but he was clearly struggling with Fury’s power – as he had in the previous two meetings.
In the third Chisora was hanging on again, so much so that at one point he dragged the champion to the floor with him.
Such was Fury’s dominance he was able to switch stance from southpaw to orthodox and back again, with Chisora having no answer to the blows raining down on him.
Punishment takes its toll
By the ninth round the punishment was really starting to tell, a weary Chisora sporting a bad cut under an eye and spitting blood.
He went out on his shield, though, with referee Victor Loughlin putting Chisora out of his misery in the 10th.
It was a valiant but ultimately futile attempt by the challenger, who would have become the fifth-oldest heavyweight champion if he caused an upset, but will at least take a decent pay cheque into what looks a likely retirement.
“He’s an absolute warrior,” said Fury afterwards. “A British warrior. We’ve had three epic fights and he’s a tough man. He stood up to every shot and was calling me a b***h in there.”
For Fury it was victory number 33 of his undefeated career, and number 34 is set to be the one that defines him.
Earlier Greenwich’s Daniel Dubois, 25, recovered from being floored in the first round to defend his WBA regular heavyweight title with a third-round TKO against South African Kevin Lerena.
Chris Oliver's big-fight preview correctly predictd a late stoppage for Fury, plus an early one for Dubois. Follow our boxing expert on twitter and visit sportinglife.com/boxing for more top-class analysis and best bets
