Tyson Fury Takes British Heavyweight Crown with Wide Win Over Chisora

Tyson Fury was in control for most of a fairly exciting fight today at Wembley Arena in London, topping Dereck Chisora on wide scorecards to win the British and Commonwealth heavyweight champions.

Fury (15-0, 10 KO) won on scores of 117-112, 117-112 and 118-111. Bad Left Hook scored the fight 117-111 for Fury, who at 23 is now firmly on the path he's been talking about since his pro career started in December 2008.

Fury was able to dictate the pace of the fight for the most part, as Chisora (14-1, 9 KO) struggled with his conditioning and stamina after weighing in at a career-high 261 pounds on Friday. The Zimbabwean-born Chisora had a great second round, where he bombed away and rocked Fury around the ring, but was unable to really put together any punches in combination over the 12 rounds of the fight, and in the end became a one-dimensional and totally predictable opponent, allowing Fury the chance to relax and take control of the contest.

Chisora had some success with his left hook, and some with a wild right haymaker, but the successes were just too few and far between, and it seemed as though after that second round, Fury was able to see all of it coming, as Chisora really had no Plan B. Fury leaned on Chisora often, which further wore down the defending champion, and made Chisora's telegraphed aggression work to his advantage.

Fury is still a fair bit off from world title contention, as good as this win was. He seems to punch with little power despite his massive frame, which appears to be a technique issue more than anything, and while his footwork is above average for a guy his size, I think it could still get better and more fluid. But there's no doubt that today he was the better man, and now he's the British heavyweight champion. How soon he truly rises above domestic level is anyone's guess, but thus far in his career he's been ambitious and loud, and he's been able to back it up.

On the undercard, Ashley Theophane (30-4-1, 8 KO) knocked out Jason Cook (28-4-1, 14 KO) at 0:43 of the 10th round to successfully defend his British junior welterweight title. Cook had good moments early in the fight, reportedly, and Theophane was docked a point for a low blow in the middle rounds. But in the latter stages, Theophane outclassed Cook and was able to get him out in the 10th. Theophane is not likely to find a good fight for himself, given his lack of name value and the fact that he's good, but he's got an argument as a top 10 guy in a good division right now.

Bad Left Hook will have more live coverage later tonight, as Amir Khan faces Zab Judah at 10 p.m. EDT on HBO in the US, and Primetime pay-per-view in the UK. Join us then.