Promoter Frank Warren says Derek Chisora and Deontay Wilder are risking their futures when they meet on April 4. Both veterans — Chisora, 42, and Wilder, 40 — are long into their careers, and Warren believes the loser may have to call time on boxing.
Warren warned it is effectively a last-chance fight. He said one fighter will come out the other side with a career in tatters, and at their ages it will be hard to recover. “It’s the last chance saloon for one of them — well, for both of them,” he told Sky Sports. “One of them’s going to get thrown out of the saloon. They’re not youngsters who are going to come back again. For somebody it’s going to be all over for them. At their age, they’re not going to recover from that.”
On the other hand, the winner could put themselves in position to be the IBF’s mandatory challenger to unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. Warren pointed out that Chisora is currently the highest-ranked contender in the IBF ratings and that the sanctioning bodies are lining up mandatories that will need to be honoured. He also noted the WBC has given Usyk permission for a voluntary defence and that Agit Kabayel is next in line as the WBC mandatory.
“The IBF, they’ll be calling for Usyk to defend,” Warren said, adding that mandatories must be dealt with and that either Wilder or Chisora could emerge as that challenger. He questioned what Usyk wants next — whether he takes another voluntary fight or moves in a different direction — and suggested Usyk is motivated by the payday and his status at the top of the division.
Also on the bill: catch Caroline Dubois vs Terri Harper from the O2 on Sunday, April 5 live on Sky Sports.