Wilder edges a wild win over retiring Chisora in heavyweight fight

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Wilder edges a wild win over retiring Chisora in heavyweight fight

2026-04-05 07:33 Last Updated At：08:01

LONDON (AP) — Former world champion Deontay Wilder sent Derek Chisora into retirement by edging their chaotic heavyweight fight in the O2 Arena on Saturday.

The boxers, aged 40 and 42 respectively, threw hopeful knockout punches and barely jabbed. Both slipped and fell to the canvas frequently.

Wilder got the only knockdown in the eighth round, sending Chisora through the ropes, but the American was deducted a point in the same round for pushing. Chisora was rattled but Wilder didn't press his advantage.

Wilder dominated the early rounds and Chisora rallied late. The judges were split: Wilder received scores of 115-111 and 115-113, and the third picked Chisora by 115-112.

Wilder said the fight was fun and suggested he didn't want to knock out Chisora.

“Tonight, I looked out for him, I want him to live for his kids,” he told broadcaster DAZN. “It's time for us to take care of each other.”

Chisora said in the buildup the fight was to be his last, but the Londoner was reluctant to confirm it afterwards.

“I'm going to go home with the boss lady and see,” he told DAZN. “I'm going to go home and drop the kids, do the school run.”

It was the 50th fight for both in the professional ranks.

Wilder improved his record to 45-4-1. The WBC titleholder from 2015-20 came to London having lost four of his last six fights.

Chisora's record since 2007, when he turned pro a year before Wilder, dropped to 36-14. He lost his only two title shots against Vitali Klitschko in 2012 and Tyson Fury in 2022.

AP boxing: https://apnews.com/boxing

Jokic scores 40, outduels Wembanyama and Nuggets top Spurs 136-134 in OT

DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic had 40 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds, Christian Braun added 21 points and the Denver Nuggets beat San Antonio 136-134 in overtime Saturday to snap the Spurs’ 11-game winning streak.

Cameron Johnson scored 17, Jamal Murray finished with 15 points and 10 assists and Aaron Gordon scored 15 for the Nuggets.

Gordon scored with 6.2 seconds left in regulation to tie the game, then forced Victor Wembanyama into a miss on the final shot of regulation.

Wembanyama finished with 34 points, 18 rebounds, seven assists and five blocked shots for the Spurs, who lost for only the third time in their last 30 games.

Stephon Castle scored 20 points for San Antonio, while Devin Vassell and Julian Champagnie each scored 18 for the Spurs.

Castle’s three-point play midway through the second quarter put the Spurs up 57-44, that 13-point margin the biggest that they would hold all afternoon.

Wembanyama scored with 9:08 remaining to put San Antonio up 107-96. The Spurs were 48-2 this season in games where they held double-digit leads in the fourth quarter.

They’re 48-3 now — with two of those losses against the Nuggets, who rallied from a 13-point deficit in the fourth to beat San Antonio on March 12.

Denver held San Antonio to 33% shooting the rest of the way, outscoring the Spurs 40-27 in the final 14 minutes of the game including overtime.

Jokic had 16 of his points in those final 14 minutes, while Denver held Wembanyama to 1 for 4 shooting in that span.

Spurs: Host Philadelphia on Monday.

Nuggets: Host Portland on Monday.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba