Essex and Dapper Laughs Fight to Controversial Split Draw at Misfits Boxing London

Misfits Boxing delivered a night of pure controversy in London on Saturday, as Joey Essex and Dapper Laughs fought to a split draw in the main event at the Copper Box Arena. After four rounds, the judges returned wildly contrasting verdicts: 39-37 for Essex, 40-36 for Dapper Laughs, and 38-38 even. The announcement drew boos from sections of the crowd, with Dapper Laughs (real name Daniel O'Reilly) widely felt to have done the better work through the middle rounds before Essex rallied late. It was one of three draws on a chaotic card. Swarmz and Ambush Buzzworl also fought to a split draw on the undercard, while former West Ham defender James Collins was knocked down in the third round of his boxing debut before losing a split decision to Big Stacks. Carla Jade kept the Misfits women's lightweight title with a unanimous decision over Erika Night. The standout performance belonged to Plinio Cruz, longtime coach of former two-division UFC champion Alex Pereira. Originally booked to face Chase DeMoor for the Misfits heavyweight title before DeMoor withdrew with an eye injury, Cruz instead dismantled DeMoor's trainer Gary Olive, stopping him at 58 seconds of round two after dropping him with left hooks. The judging chaos did not end there: Misfits co-president Mams Taylor said three of the card's results would be "officially under review using the jury system" amid criticism of the scorecards.