Wilder beats Chisora on points in bruising brawl

LONDON -- Deontay Wilder beat Derek Chisora in a scrappy but entertaining heavyweight brawl on Saturday to put himself back in the conversation for world title fights.

Wilder (45-4-1, 43 KOs) scored two knockdowns but had a point taken off in a chaotic and emotional night in London.

Two judges scored it 115-111 and 115-113 for Wilder while one had it 115-112 for Chisora with Wilder winning via split decision.

Chisora (36-14, 23 KOs) went through the ropes twice as both men spent much of the fight leaning into each other. Chisora did what he said he would and came out swinging early while Wilder tried to keep the distance with his superior reach.

The American constantly threatened his powerful right hand but Chisora kept coming and landed the better shots early.

He suffocated his rival, closing the distance and working both the head and body with success in the first half of the fight but couldn't hurt Wilder.

The Brit appeared to tire in the later rounds and Wilder landed more as the fight went on. Chisora did score a knockdown in Round 11 but it was too little, too late as Wilder controlled the last round to secure victory.

Chisora, 42, twice fought for a world title in 2012 and 2022, respectively, and has become a cult figure in British boxing.

He was visibly emotional as he made his way into the arena and when he made what he said would be his 50th and final ring walk.

The Brit, fighting at The O2 for the 11th time in his career, travelled to the venue on the London Underground -- taking the tube instead of a private car -- and rather than going in through the VIP entrance, walked through the main doors, past a mob of fans and accompanied by his family and pushing his young son, Zion, in a pram.

In the co-main event, Viddal Riley beat Mateusz Masternak to win the EBU European cruiserweight title and put himself in line for a world title shot next.

Riley won by unanimous decision with scores of 118-110, 118-110 and 119-109. The fight was also an IBF eliminator for the vacant world title.

Riley (14-0, 7 KOs) boxed well and inflicted a fair amount of damage on Masternak (50-7, 33 KOs), working behind his jab and following up with his right hand, landing several bruising blows as he wore his Polish opponent down throughout the fight.