Source: Deontay Wilder, Derek Chisora finalizing April bout

Heavyweights would meet in London

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Former WBC heavyweight titleholder Deontay Wilder and former title challenger Derek Chisora are finalizing a fight that will take place in April in London, a source with knowledge of the plans told Fight Freaks Unite on Tuesday night.

There had been recent conversation that Wilder would challenge lineal/unified champion Oleksandr Usyk next and the sides had been in contact but the fight has not been made and Wilder instead will fight Chisora.

On Tuesday, Chisora posted a video on Instagram of him signing an apparent contract with a pair of boxing gloves and the number “50” — as in his 50th fight — superimposed over the video.

Late last year, Wilder manager Shelly Finkel told Fight Freaks Unite they were weighing the possibility of Wilder facing Usyk in a fight that was targeted for the spring or summer in the United States but that Chisora was also a serious option as well.

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When Usyk vacated the WBO belt in mid-November, giving up his undisputed champion status rather than being forced into a mandatory defense next against interim titleholder Fabio Wardley, who was then elevated to full WBO titleholder, Usyk specifically named Wilder as the opponent he would like to face.

He said it in December during the WBC convention in Bangkok, Thailand, and has said it since.

“I want to fight Wilder because he’s a very famous guy during the last few years, was a champion and is a very dangerous opponent,” Usyk said at the time. “I’m not looking for a dangerous guy, as all my opponents are dangerous.”

Indeed, since vacating the undisputed cruiserweight title and moving up to heavyweight to become a two-time undisputed champion, Usyk has defeated Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua twice apiece. Wilder was third of the big three names of the era he had not faced.

So while perhaps Usyk-Wilder might happen should Wilder defeat Chisora, and should Usyk defend against somebody else first — former unified titlist Andy Ruiz Jr. has circulated as a possible Usyk challenger — Wilder will head to England to fight for the second time in his 18-year career. In 2013, he fought in Sheffield, where he knocked out Olympic gold medalist Audley Harrison in 70 seconds and sent him into retirement.

Wilder (44-4-1, 43 KOs), 40, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, whose crushing right hand made him one of the most devastating punchers in boxing history, defended the WBC title 10 times during his 2015 to 2020 reign, which ended by knockout in the second of three memorable title fight with Fury.

After Wilder lost a wide decision to Joseph Parker in December 2023, which cost him a fight with Joshua when the deal had already been made pending each winning on that card, and then suffered a fifth-round knockout to Zhilei Zhang in June 2024, many thought Wilder would retire.

But Wilder, who then underwent right shoulder surgery, returned this past June and dropped the outgunned but game Tyrell Herndon twice in a seventh-round knockout victory in Wichita, Kansas, and made it clear he was not ready to retire.

Chisora (36-13, 23 KOs), 42, a British fan favorite, has looked revitalized in recent fights since taking a one-sided 10th-round knockout loss to Fury challenging for the lineal/WBC title in their third fight in December 2022.

Chisora has won three fights in a row, all by decision, against former Wilder knockout victim Gerald Washington, an upset of countryman Joe Joyce and, most recently, Otto Wallin last February in an IBF title eliminator for the No. 2 position.

In his 49th fight, Chisora, a pro for 19 years, dropped Wallin twice and said he wanted to wrap up his career with a major bout in fight No. 50. A third fight between Chisora and Dillian Whyte was in the works for Dec. 13 to headline a Queensberry Promotions card but the fight was scrapped over Chisora’s dissatisfaction with the financial terms.

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Wilder photo: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing