Britain’s Dereck Chisora won the vacant European heavyweight title with a fifth-round stoppage of Germany’s Edmund Gerber at London’s Copper Box on Saturday.
The 29-year-old, who harbors hopes of another world title shot, drew blood from Gerber in the third round.
A series of combination shots cornered Gerber in the fifth, prompting the referee to end the contest.
Elsewhere on the card, Frankie Gavin retained his British and Commonwealth titles against David Barnes.
Chisora, nicknamed “Del Boy,” lost to David Haye last year, but responded with stoppages of Argentina’s Hector Alfredo Avila and American Malik Scott to reshape his career.
He continued his momentum early against his 17th rival, claiming the first three rounds, before weathering a fightback in the fourth.
On the resumption, Chisora assumed control and caught the jaw of his bigger opponent, before following up with a telling foray of blows to prompt the stoppage.
“I’ve been training every day,” said Chisora, who now has 18 wins and four losses. “I told my team I’m going to give myself three years in this game, training every day. I’ve woken up. My mum told me to either do it seriously or stop. So now I’m going to do this seriously.”
The win could pave the way for a fight with the winner of the postponed Haye versus Tyson Fury bout, or a world title match with Wladimir or Vitali Klitschko.
After watching his fighter claim the European title, Chisora’s promoter, Frank Warren, raised the prospect of a fight with Fury in December.
Meanwhile, at the Liverpool Olympia, Derry Matthews delivered a devastating body shot to Curtis Woodhouse to force a fourth-round stoppage and retain his Commonwealth light-welterweight title.
Liam Smith won by unanimous decision against Erick Ochieng to claim the vacant British light-middleweight title.
Smith’s win means his family become the first to hold three British titles at the same time, with brothers Paul and Stephen holding belts at super-middleweight and super-featherweight respectively.
Billy Joe Saunders made history by beating John Ryder in their middleweight bout.
The 24-year-old became the first traveler to hold the British Lonsdale belt outright by winning a unanimous points decision by margins of 115-113 twice and 115-114.
Saunders also keeps hold of his Commonwealth strap, ending Ryder’s unbeaten record in the process.
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