Derek Chisora overcame a nasty cut to bow out of boxing in Britain by bashing up Otto Wallin.

The British heavyweight earned the 36th win of his rollercoaster career against a shot-shy and sluggish Swedish southpaw. This is supposedly Chisora’s farewell to fighting in the UK. Del Boy has vowed to hang them up after one more fight to make it 50 bouts but he is planning that to be abroad.

That is why this was billed as ‘The Last Dance’ despite it not being his swan song. It was not a fight for the purists. It was entertaining for the blood thirsty and big-punch loving fans but it was more akin to a brawl than a boxing match at times.

That suited slugger Chisora as he got to fight his fight and look decent while Wallin wilted on what was his last chance of becoming a serious contender in the heavyweight division. Chisora was the deserved winner on cards of 117-109, 114-112 and 116-110. He had suffered a horror cut around his right eye midway through the fight but it didn’t deter him and Wallin couldn’t capitalise.

The Zimbabwe-born heavyweight cried when he got to his dressing room at Co-Op Live before the bout as emotion got the better of him as the realisation of what was to come hit home.

He admitted he is finding it hard to retire. His career has been full of ups and – plenty of – downs but he’s looking to go out on a high. This was certainly a strong finish to boxing in Britain.

There was a lovely touch at the end when he brought in his amateur coach, John Oliver from Finchley ABC, and thanked him for helping him out at the start of his career.

Chisora, shorts adorned with the number of fights and defeats, walked to the ring to his usual tune of Hotel California as he appeared to lap up the adulation of the crowd for his penultimate fight of his storied career.

Wallin was here to spoil the party but he was struggling to contend with Chisora in the opening round. The Brit kept coming forward, almost mauling the Swedish southpaw as he closed the distance to stop him getting his shots off.

Chisora, 41, managed to land a good left in a scrappy opening round. Wallin managed to land a couple of clean shots in the second, one on top of Chisora’s head as the London-based heavyweight ducked down.

The cries of “Oh Derek Chisora” went around the busy arena as the veteran tried continuously to hurt his man to the body and slow him down. Chisora extended his career with a surprise win over Joe Joyce last time out in what was an entertaining affair.

An overhand right from Chisora was the standout shot of the third. Wallin would retaliate before the three minutes was up, though. Wallin started to find his range in the fourth with a sharp left uppercut from the southpaw catching Chisora clean.

The Swede couldn’t keep Chisora off in the fifth. A looping right landing. Wallin had only two defeats before this one. They were to elite operators Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.

But he was getting soundly beaten here by an ageing Chisora, who even in his pomp was not a top heavyweight. Chisora was looking to avoid a 14th loss in his now 49-fight career. But a cut had opened up on his right eye which needed attention from the doctor in the sixth round.

He was cleared to continue but he was blinking continuously as blood poured into the eye. Wallin was still shy in throwing the left when it seemed the obvious punch with Chisora’s vision impaired by the claret.

Chisora was switching stances throughout the fight and he jumped on Wallin at the end of the seventh to unleash a two-punch combination which sent the Swedish fighter into the ropes.

Wallin was withering under the pressure and, in the eighth, he was trapped on the ropes as Chisora unleashed an onslaught of shots to the head and body which was only stopped by the referee when too many strayed low.

The round ended in bizarre fashion as Chisora just waited, cowered in the corner but Wallin didn’t have the courage to unleash any punches of note as he seemed wary a counter was going to come back.

Wallin was down in the ninth, a wild shot from Chisora clipped him and after a delay he stumbled backwards and hit the canvas.

Chisora was exhausted but there was nothing in Wallin’s shots as he was tiring massively, too.

Wallin was almost comically gun shy as Chisora appeared to be a sitting duck yet he wouldn’t let punches go in the tenth.

Chisora was gassing but Wallin couldn’t capitalise and in the 12th the Swede was down again but another looping shot that he should have seen coming as it started almost at the Brit’s backheel. But it was a comfortable win as Chisora’s farewell tour had its penultimate stop.

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