MUNICH, Feb 19 — Vitali Klitschko comfortably retained his WBC heavyweight title yesterday, scoring a unanimous points decision over British challenger Dereck Chisora in Munich’s Olympic Hall to ensure his family maintained a global stranglehold on the division.

The 40-year-old Ukrainian, whose younger brother Vladimir holds the WBO, IBF, WBA and IBO crowns, improved his record to 44-2 but was forced to go the distance against the former British and Commonwealth champion, who made more enemies than friends with his antics before and after the 12-round clash.

“I am happy to defend my title,” Klitschko said in a ringside interview. “It was a good performance from Chisora. I don’t want to make excuses — it was not easy — but I saw every punch from Chisora. I am upset because I wanted to finish the fight before 12 rounds.”

The taller Klitschko set the foundations for victory by dominating his shorter opponent in the opening rounds, his longer reach allowing him to pound Chisora with punishing rights from a distance.

Chisora, who had slapped his rival at the weigh-in on Friday and also spat water into Vladimir’s face during the pre-fight ceremonies, recovered well and rattled Klitschko with a solid uppercut in the fifth round as he gained in confidence.

Klitschko, some 15cm taller than the Briton, continued to cause damage with his big right but failed to land the decisive blow as he gradually ran out of steam and was content to edge the latter rounds to secure the points win.

The judges scored the bout 118-110, 118-110 and 119-111 in favour of the Ukrainian, with a defiant Chisora, who continued to stare down both Klitschko brothers after the decision, demanding a rematch as the 12,000 crowd booed and jeered him.

“This booing, I don’t. As long as they paid money to watch the sport I love, I don’t mind,” he said.

“I want another fight. There will be a rematch or I will fight his younger brother,” said Chisora, who lost his third bout in his past four contests to fall to 15-3.

The heavily favoured Klitschko looked more tired than usual in the closing rounds and praised his opponent’s tenacity but not his demeanour.

“He tried to punch me to my body but I have a strong stomach. It didn’t hurt,” he said.

“I have respect for Chisora as a fighter, but not as a human. He set a bad example for boxing and all fighters. He came from Great Britain but he is not a gentleman.” — Reuters