Deontay Wilder appeared to send a message of ‘love’ to Derek Chisora before piling in punches to send him to the canvas in his chaotic victory in the boxing main event at the O2 Arena on Saturday night.
Chisora’s last night in boxing before retirement ended in defeat on a split decision to the American on a night Daily Mail Sport’s Jeff Powell called ‘The Fight of the Century’.
And it seems the respect between the two fighters was on full show – even midway through their fight.
A clip of Wilder, 40, has gone viral on social media after he appeared to profess his ‘love’ to the 42-year-old Brit before raining down punches on him.
‘I’m sorry, I love you,’ Wilder appears to say. He then sends Chisora crashing through the ropes at the O2 with a barrage of punches.
Chisora, for his part, later said the ropes were ‘loose’.
‘The ropes were very loose. I went on the ropes, he fell into me, the ref said break. I went through the ropes, they started counting. The second time they took a point but still counted me out and I don’t understand why.’
Wilder later claimed he took it easy on Chisora in the later rounds out of respect.
‘Too many lives have been lost in this ring,’ he said in his post-fight interview on DAZN. ‘Nobody give a f*** about us. Fighters have to look after each other. I didn’t wanna go too hard on him.’
The two fighters were later pictured together in Wilder’s dressing room, sharing burgers from Five Guys that Chisora had brought in as a peace offering.
Chisora, who disagreed with the scorecards on the night, was not definitive on if he would stick with his plans to retire after this fight.
‘You know what, I don’t know. God’s honest truth I don’t know,’ Chisora said. He later added: ‘To be honest with you, I’m tired now. I can’t do it anymore. You know when it’s time, it’s time.
‘I’ve had a great career.’
