The much-speculated return of former heavyweight titleholder Deontay Wilder against longtime contender Derek Chisora was made official on Friday.
Wilder, 44-4-1 (43 KOs), will square off against Chisora, 36-13 (23 KOs), on April 4 at the O2 Arena in London in MF Pro’s first-ever show, which will be broadcast on DAZN. MF Pro announced the fight on its social media channels.
Wilder, the 40-year-old former long-reigning heavyweight belt holder from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, may be sending out a trial balloon as he weighs one last run at a title. All of his four career losses – three of them by stoppage – have come in his past six fights. Wilder appeared all but shot by the end of a June 2024 knockout loss to Zhilei Zhang, and his successful return in a seventh-round stoppage of the limited Tyrrell Anthony Herndon last June was a far cry from his heyday in multi-fight series against Tyson Fury and Luis Ortiz.
Then again, Chisora, a 42-year-old Londoner, was regarded similarly – perhaps even considered even more shopworn – at least as far back as three years ago, after he was stopped by Fury in a challenge for his belt. But Chisora has since rebounded with three quality wins, over Gerald Washington, Joe Joyce and, most recently, Otto Wallin last February.
Both fighters are indisputably living on borrowed time, but a chance to find out if a late-act rebuild for Wilder is possible and the opportunity for at least one last big fight for Chisora at the O2 make for compelling enough theater, especially given the high probability of a combustible finish.
Jason Langendorf is the former Boxing Editor of ESPN.com, was a contributor to Ringside Seat and the Queensberry Rules, and has written about boxing for Vice, The Guardian, Sun-Times and other publications. A member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, he can be found at LinkedIn and followed on X and Bluesky.
