Twelve fright for Whyte

Dillian Whyte, defeated former world champion Joseph Parker with a 12-round unanimous decision, to retain the World Boxing Council Silver championship at the O2 Arena, London, surviving a mighty fright in the final round, in which he was dropped, but got up and survived.

Whyte and Parker fought thrilling twelve rounder before twenty thousand fans, who saw both of them decked hard.

Parker started aggressively using his fast and powerful left jab. Parker went down after an accidental collision of heads in the second round, and Referee  Ian Jon Lewis decreed it a stumble/tumble.

In the following rounds, Parker continued to box while physically larger Whyte threw power punches. In the ninth, Whyte sent Parker to the canvas with a blockbuster left hook to the head.  But the rugged New Zealander got up, circled and survived.

In the final round Parker connected with a flurry and Whyte went down. Still badly hurt, he got up and used his survival skills to make it to the twelfth bell. So Whyte won with scores of 113-112, 115-11 and 114-111.
He  improves his record to 24-1, with 17 knockouts, achieving the second defense of the WBC silver heavyweight title. While Parker’s record is now 24-2, with 18 knockouts. Those two defeats, has been consecutive, against Anthony Joshua and now against Whyte, both in the United Kingdom.