Not even Derek Chisora could argue with the referee’s decision to pull the plug on what turned out to be an undignified beatdown from Tyson Fury.

Chisora, the fan-friendly British bruiser, challenged his countryman and friend, the WBC titlist Tyson Fury, last Saturday night at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, only to get smacked around for 10 rounds in a fight that many regarded as unnecessary. After Fury landed another clubbing blow early in the 10th round, referee Victor Loughlin decided to end the bout. Incredibly, this was the third time Chisora and Fury met inside the ring, and Fury won all three encounters. This was the rare trilogy in which there was relatively little demand from the public, although nearly 60,000 freezing spectators filled the open air arena.

Fury, 34, defeated Chisora, 38, for the first time in 2011, then again in 2014.

After the fight, Chisora was asked if he agreed with some (admittedly sadistic) observers that the fight was unnecessarily cut short by the referee. The aging veteran, however, had no qualms with the stoppage. He even thanked the oft-scapegoated British Boxing Board of Control.

“The ref was right,” Chisora told SecondsOut.com. “I was not doing much anyway. The ref was right. The British boxing board of control were right. Because afterwards you have to go home to your kids. As fighters you don’t want to stop, you want to carry on. Because that’s how we’re bred. We just want to fight, fight, fight for 15 rounds.

“That’s why the refs are there, to look at a fight and [say], 'you know what this isn’t going well.'”

Chisora noted that he still had “fun” inside the ring. “I enjoyed it,” he said.

Post fight, Chisora (33-13, 23 KOs) rejected calls for retirement, saying he intended to keep fighting and that he would like to “go on the road now for more fights.” Chisora is 1-4 in his last five fights.

As for Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs), the Manchester native will likely challenge WBO, WBA, IBF champion Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight championship sometime next year. The two had a brief stare down in the ring after the Chisora fight.