Derek Chisora's coach has defended his decision not to pull the fighter out of his trilogy bout with Tyson Fury earlier this month.
There was no question by around the sixth round who was winning the pair's heavyweight title clash, with Chisora already badly beaten by the champion. They had already fought twice before as younger men, with Fury winning both, and the Londoner was taking a brutal beating from the halfway point of the fight.
However, Chisora's trainer Don Charles decided against pulling him out of the contest, instead allowing Fury to continue his dominance until the referee stepped in during round ten. Charles has come in for criticism over the past few weeks since the fight, but believes that he made the right decision, offering to "educate" those who feel differently.
Speaking with Seconds Out, he explained his position, saying: “My question to the critics is, if they were Don Charles in that moment, what round would they have pulled Chisora out? And for what reason? Because he was taking such a hammering? I have to disagree.
"That’s what everyone is saying ‘he’s taking such a hammering’. Not the fight I was watching. People might think I’m delusional. I will sit everyone down in a room and educate them from coaches to journalists. If we were getting knocked down and getting up and I’m letting the round go on.
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"How many times do you see that? Fighters do go down and they get up. Fighters are cut to pieces, and you patch it up and you get on. There’s a lot of reason why I would have allowed it to that degree… I had made my mind up in round ten, I would have had to make a decision [at the end of the round] that’s what was in my mind. The referee intervened before the round ended which was the right decision and I’m not questioning that.”
The bout was disavowed by most in the sport from the day it was announced, particularly after weeks of teasing that Fury could fight British rival Anthony Joshua on the same date. However, the fighters and promoters in the event defended it, and a crowd of around 60,000 came out on a chilly December night to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.
Going into the bout, Chisora had won just one of his last four fights - a narrow points victory over Kubrat Pulev in July - and his chances of an upset saw pre-fight odds reach as wide as 14/1. He came out of the traps quickly in the fight, but he was ultimately outclassed by Fury.
