Deontay Wilder is looking to have a tune-up fight before potentially stepping in the ring with Oleksandr Usyk next year.
Wilder once ruled the heavyweight scene with his iron right hand. He knocked out all of his first 40 opponents and was only derailed when he came up against Tyson Fury, who fought to a draw in their first fight and then stopped Wilder in the next two.
‘The Bronze Bomber’ has since lost to Joseph Parker on points and Zhilei Zhang by fifht round stoppage back in 2024, and this year had just one contest – a straight forward knockout of Tyrrell Herndon back in June.
He was thrown a lifeline this week when two-time undisputed champion Usyk declared he wanted to face the American before he retired.
Speaking to ESNews, Wilder admitted he’d be keen on a contest with Dereck Chisora before then to get back to full fight sharpness.
“Derek Chisora, you want it, you can get it. That’s for sure. That might be my warm-up fight. I’ll see what people think about that. We were supposed to fight years ago, and I got in some legal trouble and it meant I couldn’t travel. It was supposed to happen and it didn’t happen, and this opportunity means it can happen.”
Chisora has had 49 contests and has been biding his time picking his 50th and final opponent. Wilder would be a huge challenge at this stage in his career, but might be the sort of headline-making fight that would get Chisora sufficiently excited to bring out his best.
