Del Boy proves he's nobody's plonker

Finchley’s British heavyweight champion Dereck ‘Del Boy’ Chisora proved he wasn’t the ‘plonker’ Sam Sexton said he was by taking the Norwich man’s Commonwealth title in very impressive fashion.

Referee John Keane rescued Sexton seven seconds before the end of the ninth round and by wrapping his arms around the stricken fighter might in fact have saved him hitting the canvas.

After eight rounds of what, certainly by domestic heavyweight standards, was a pulsating slugfest, Chisora smelled blood and went for it in uncompromising fashion. Towards the end of the ninth, he threw in half a dozen right hooks in a row and Sexton immediately showed signs of implosion. They both knew it. Sexton couldn’t effectively defend himself as Chisora brought the pain with hooks from both hands. Several missed but plenty connected, most notably a huge right hand which prompted a perfect intervention from referee Keane. The arbiter had given the now former Commonwealth champ every chance.

The contest started at a fantastic clip and though there was no way it could be sustained, the pair didn’t do a bad job of trying. The first was even, both fighters coming out with plenty of shots though Sexton had the tighter guard.

Both men threw lots of hooks in the second and Chisora was on top though Sexton came back. The feeling was that although both men were doing lots, Chisora was visibly doing that bit more.

The third went this way too though Sexton took the fourth – at one point, a left hook seemed to register with Chisora as he backed away bouncing on the balls of his feet, taking what was an unusual breather. The Zimbabwe-born Londoner was breathing really hard in the corner as his trainer Don Charles tried to tweak his man’s approach.

Chisora took the next two rounds though, predictably, the relatively searing pace of the first four sessions couldn’t be maintained. There was much more work from both men at close quarters with the British champ burrowing his way into Sexton’s chest. This is not to say they were turgid rounds – plenty of leather was still dispatched and by mid-way through the sixth, Chisora’s jab was connecting with alarming regularity. Sexton took a share of the seventh and tried to get on the front foot in the eighth though was still being outscored.

Chisora later remarked it was in these rounds he could tell Sexton was on the decline; previously his jabs had plenty of spite but now they were pawing shots, according to Chisora, simply looking to register points. This encouraged ‘Del Boy’ to launch what was ultimately the fight ending salvo in the ninth.

Never convinced by Chisora myself prior to this very impressive display, he will have won plenty of sceptics over tonight. Sexton’s a good boxer and Big Dereck did a very convincing job on him. The respect he showed towards his opponent before and after, plus the absence of some of the needless, unsavoury antics which have marred some of his previous contests, will have done him the power of good in terms of winning over boxing’s Joe Bloggs.