Conn steadily gained ground on the scorecards in front of a crowd of 54,487. Louis looked unusually sluggish as Conn repeatedly punched him and controlled the pace. The challenger would witness the biggest moment of the fight in the 12th round when he knocked out Louis with a pair of left hooks, sending the crowd into a frenzy.

At the time of the stoppage, Conn was leading on the two official scorecards, 7-5 and 7-4-1, while the third judge ruled the fight even at 6-6. The Associated Press scored it 8-4 for Conn.

Then came round 13.

Instead of continuing to fight for a decision, Conn looked for a knockout. Louis, who was told by coach Jack Blackburn that he needed a break to win, jumped at the opportunity. The heavyweight champion caught Conn with a counterattack and knocked him out at 2:58 of the round.

Later in the locker room, Conn blamed no one but himself.

“I lost my head and a million dollars,” he famously said. When asked why he abandoned the strategy that had given him an advantage, Conn offered another memorable phrase: “What’s the exploit of being Irish if you can’t be fat?”

The regret stayed with him for the rest of his life.

Years later, Conn admitted he won that fight before he started chasing the knockout. “I was a sharp guy. I had him and I let him get away,” Conn recalled. “If I hadn’t hurt him in the twelfth race and tried to knock him out in the thirteenth, I would have beaten him.”

Towards the end of his life, Conn suggested that he was unsure whether the judges would award him a decision against a champion as popular as Louis. Still, the player’s reflections focused less on the scorecards and more on his decision to abandon his winning game plan.

Eighty-five years later, the enduring image remains the same: Billy Conn losing to the great Joe Louis, only to let victory slip away by trying to finish the job too soon.

In response to Whittaker’s comments, Chelli said his victory over Morrell was more than just a lucky blow.

“He didn’t do it [fought anyone]. I just saw his recent interview where he said my fight was a lucky shot,” Chelli told Sky Sports Boxing. “You don’t get a lucky shot against a two-time world heavyweight champion, who took a beating in the fight against David Benavidez.

“You don’t get a lucky shot in boxing, especially at this level. Maybe against a smaller guy. At this level, against a guy who is prepared to take a lucky shot and is trained for it. I wouldn’t say I envy him, but I think he regrets not taking that fight. I don’t think he would have done the job if he had taken that fight.”

Despite criticism of Whittaker’s record, Chelli says he would welcome a fight with him.

“I don’t see him as a real competitor, but he’s a large name. Why do we box? Are we boxing for money, fame or belts? He’s the one I want in the WBC right now. So if I know his name, of course, I’ll gladly take it,” Chelli said.

Chelli also revealed that the two were once members of Team GB and claimed he dumped Whittaker during a sparring session.

“We were good friends at one point. We were in Team GB, we shared the same rooms and were close. I think we were fighting for the English title in the final and I think something screwed up there. We had a sparring session. I dropped him in the sparring session,” Chelli said. “You can ask the witnesses there that I dropped him in sparring but he was still selected for the Commonwealth Games.”

Whittaker (11-0-1, 8 KO) holds the WBC International lightweight heavyweight title and last fought in April, defeating Liam Cameron in the second round of their rematch in Birmingham. Chelli’s upset win over Morrell was the biggest victory of his career and put him in position for more essential fights in the 175-pound division.

“I don’t see him as competition.”

Zak Chelli speaks out about Ben Whittaker 👀 pic.twitter.com/JBILvEC3Rt

— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) June 17, 2026

Details of Moses Itauma’s long-awaited return to the ring have finally been revealed.

While Oleksandr Usyk may be the current heavyweight king, Itauma is seen as the future of the division as he has won all 14 of his professional fights, 12 of which ended by knockout.

After gaining notoriety with victories over the likes of Dillian Whyte, Demsey McKean and Mariusz Wach, in March he scored the biggest victory of his career when he defeated Jermaine Franklin over five rounds at Co-Op Live in Manchester.

Following this victory, attention quickly turned to who the 21-year-old would have to face next to continue his journey to becoming a world champion in the near future.

It had long been rumored that the opponent was Filip Hrgovic, and indeed it turned out to be the case Sky Sports reported that he will actually face the Croatian, and the fight is to take place on August 29 at the O2 Arena in London.

Hrgovic has won 20 of his 21 professional fights, with the only blemish being a loss to Daniel Dubois in June 2024.

Since that defeat he has beaten a trio of Brits, scoring points over Joe Joyce and David Adeleye, before beating Dave Allen in the third round at the Eco-Power Stadium in Doncaster in May.

This has now led to a showdown with Itauma, with Allen himself revealing his predictions for the competition after getting a feel for what it’s like to share the ring with ‘El Animal’.