Photo Gallery: John McDermott vs Tyson Fury

Heavyweights Tyson Fury and John McDermott went at it over 10 bruising, and ultimately controversial rounds on Friday night at the Brentwood Centre in Essex.

The questionable decision handed out by referee Terry O'Conner (pictured right with McDermott) has been the talk of British boxing, with promoter Frank Maloney raging at O'Conner work.

Photographer Chris Royle was ringside to capture all the hard hitting action.

John McDermott vs Tyson Fury

Photos © Chris Royle - Click on the images to enlarge. Promoter Frank Maloney has a few words for his English heavyweight champion John McDermott. Despite holding the title and a 25-5 record, the unheralded Essex fighter entered the bout as a decided underdog. Big Tyson Fury, the odds on favourite brought a perfect 7-0 record into the contest with all victories coming inside the distance. Confounding the prevailing opinion of how the opening rounds would play out, it was McDermott that started the stronger of the two heavyweights. He pressed the action right from the beginning, and backed the youngster up, landing some heavy right hands in the process. The mid rounds were fought at a good pace, with neither fighter shying away from contact. Despite never having gone beyond 4 rounds, Fury kept pace with his more experienced opponent, and was the busier of the two fighters. An excited Frank Maloney has a few words between rounds in the McDermott corner. The promoter would have plenty more to say after the contest. Fury used his left jab to good effect and made a point of going to the body, finding the mark often on McDermott's midsection. Despite Fury's greater activity, the cleaner harder punches were consistently landed by the English champ. Below he follows through with one of several hard right hands he landed during the bout. Above - An angry Frank Maloney reacts as referee Terry O'Conner lifts Fury's hand in victory at the conclusion of the 10 rounds. While the bout was competitive throughout, the consensus at ringside was that McDermott had clearly done enough to retain his title. Certainly nobody agreed with O'Connor's astonishing 8-2 scorecard. To Fury's credit, he's expressed a willingness to do it again and a rematch would appear likely for later this year.