Judge’s scorecard slammed as Joseph Parker beats Dereck Chisora in heavyweight war

It was tough to pick a winner in Joseph Parker’s fight against Dereck Chisora but one judge must have had his eyes closed during the bout.

Most pundits agreed you could have flipped a coin to decide the winner in Joseph Parker’s heavyweight fight against Dereck Chisora but one judge came under fire for getting it horribly wrong.

Parker won via split decision as two judges scores the fight 115-113 either way, but one had it 116-111 in the Kiwi’s favour, sparking plenty of questions.

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Chisora knocked down Parker seconds into the fight and dominated the early rounds, but started to flag as the bout wore on. Even though Parker finished with a flurry, nobody could see where the 116-11 scorecard came from.

Boxing analyst Chris Lloyd told DAZN it was “completely mad, given that he (Chisora) probably won all of the first six rounds, bar one”.

“That 116-111, especially given Parker would have had the knockdown scored against him, doesn’t really make a great deal of sense,” he said.

“Once again we’re unfortunately talking about the scorecards.”

Commentator Nick Halling added: “How on earth can you come up with that scorecard?”

Twitter lit up in fury too. Lee Price wrote: “Did the judge scoring it 116-111 Parker miss the first ten seconds?”

Former boxing champion Audley Harrison said “one judge was way off” while journalist Raj Bains added: “That judge that scored it 116-111 to Parker should never be allowed near the sport again. Cards never cease to amaze in this game.”

Joseph Parker and Dereck Chisora went to war.

Parker’s title aspirations remain alive after his win in Manchester but Chisora was filthy after finding himself on the wrong end of the judges’ scorecards yet again — something he’s unfortunately made a habit of.

“I’m getting upset now. I bring everything and this is the treatment I get from boxing,” Chisora said.

“I think they don’t like me … But you know what? I won’t let them slow me down. No way. I will go again.”

With victory, Parker claimed the vacant WBO intercontinental heavyweight title but, more importantly, maintains his WBO #3, IBF #6, WBC #6 rankings.

“That was a tough fight. I got caught right in the beginning and just had to dig deep and stay focused,” he said. “Follow the plan that we had in place. Sway it off a bit.

“But Derek is a very tough opponent. He came forward and put pressure on me from the beginning and threw big bombs and added a lot.”

Chisora, under the guidance of new trainer Buddy McGirt, came on strong to apply relentless pressure in the opening rounds, handing Parker a flash knockdown inside the first 10 seconds after landing an overhand right that caught the Kiwi on the back of the head.

The aggressive Brit stalked Parker through the first six rounds. Parker was regularly backed up against the ropes with Chisora targeting his body to land telling blows.

As Chisora fatigued from round six on, however, Parker was able to use his jab more effectively to control the distance – using his height and reach advantage – and showcase his hand speed and combination work at times.

With NZ Herald