Though a heavyweight showdown between veterans Deontay Wilder and Derek Chisora is being reported as all set for London in April, BoxingScene understands that official contracts are yet to be signed.
Chisora, 36-13 (23 KOs), has stated that his 50th bout would be his last after a punishing career and behind-the-scenes negotiations were underway to match him with Wilder in December. The American, however, chose to go a different route.
On Monday, when the bout was first reported by Brunch Boxing, Chisora posted a video on social media that showed him signing a contract. A source close to Chisora, who is contracted to Queensberry Promotions, has suggested that the contract seen in the video is not a genuine one and the suggestion of the bout being signed and sealed is "a lot of hot air".
That was followed by a post from Tyson Fury, who is also keen to return in April. “I’ve just heard that Derek Chisora is going to fight Deontay Wilder, two men who I’ve fought three times each,” said Fury. “I think it’s a very, very good fight but on this I’m going to go with my boy, Del Boy ‘War’ Chisora, for a stoppage… There should be a belt on the line here so, one of you sanctioning bodies, we’ve got two legendary fighters here.”
Wilder, 44-4-1 (43 KOs), hasn’t looked belt-worthy since that three-fight rivalry with Fury, however. Though he knocked out Robert Helenius in October 2022, he was then widely outpointed by Joseph Parker the following year and succumbed in five rounds to Zhilei Zhang in his only outing of 2024. A seventh-round stoppage of the limited Tyrell Anthony Herndon last June did little to convince anyone that Wilder, now 40, was on the brink of regaining the form that saw him make 10 successful defenses of the WBC title between 2015 and 2019.
There had been speculation that Wilder would challenge world heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk for his three belts later in the year, with the Ukrainian indicating more than once that the “Bronze Bomber” was his challenger of choice. Should the bout with Chisora go ahead, victory over the 42-year-old is by no means a foregone conclusion. The Englishman's post-Fury form has been better than Wilder’s. After taking a one-sided drubbing from the then-WBC beltholder at the end of 2022 he has outpointed Gerald Washington, Joe Joyce, and Otto Wallin.
