April 4 marks the 50th professional fight for both Deontay Wilder and Derek Chisora. For Chisora, it is the last. For the Bronze Bomber, it is the one that decides whether this comeback still has somewhere to go.
Eighteen months ago, Wilder connected on 16 punches out of 95 attempts before Zhilei Zhang stopped him in round five in Riyadh. His record had fallen to 1-4 over his previous five fights. His WBC ranking was slipping. Boxing had mostly moved on.
On April 4, he walks out at the O2 Arena in London, headlining one of the biggest heavyweight fights of 2026. That gap says everything about what this past year has taken.
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How Far the Former WBC Champion Actually Fell
The Zhang stoppage in June 2024 was the most visible low point, but the Joseph Parker loss six months earlier told the harder story. Wilder threw just 204 punches across 12 rounds against Parker and landed 39 of them. For a fighter whose WBC title reign from 2015 to 2020 was built entirely on one-punch destruction, those numbers showed something deeper than bad form.
He acknowledged it himself. “I was off a long time getting myself back together mentally, physically and emotionally,” Wilder told TNT Sports after returning to the ring last summer. He also spoke openly about the financial and personal weight he had been carrying. “I had a lot of outside distractions I had to get rid of. I took care of a lot of people and it got to the point where I couldn’t do it anymore.”
What Changed Before the Comeback Fight
When Wilder returned on June 27, 2025, the first change came from his corner.
Malik Scott, who had been head trainer since 2021 and worked the Parker and Zhang defeats, was out. Don House was in. House had been in Wilder’s corner for years as a cut-man and co-trainer, a veteran coach who has trained over 28 champions across boxing and the UFC. His résumé includes Diego Corrales, Caleb Plant, and a run with Tito Ortiz in the UFC. He was also in Bermane Stiverne’s corner the night Stiverne lost the WBC title to Wilder back in 2015 — meaning he has watched that right hand land from both sides.
Wilder told TalkSPORT the transition was gradual and mutual. “Malik Scott is my brother, and I needed him at that moment in time. Don and I were getting to know each other while Malik was in that spot, so when the transition happened, it was natural.”
Jay Deas, who first trained Wilder at Skyy Boxing Gym in Northport back in 2005, remained as co-trainer.
Wilder also came in heavier than he had been against Zhang. He weighed 225.4 lbs for the Herndon fight, up from 214.5 lbs in Riyadh. A deliberate shift.
The result was a seventh-round TKO over Tyrrell Herndon (24-5) at the Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kansas. Wilder knocked Herndon down in rounds two and six. It was controlled, not spectacular. “Taking my time to be able to set up my shot and become more than my right hand,” Wilder said afterwards.
Wilder vs. Chisora: A Fight 13 Years in the Making
This bout has been a long time coming — literally. Back in May 2013, promoter Frank Warren announced Wilder vs. Chisora for June at Wembley Arena. Wilder was barred from entering the United Kingdom following an arrest and the fight fell apart. It has taken until now to finally happen.
Both men arrive at their 50th professional fight. The venue is the O2 Arena in London on April 4. The broadcast is on DAZN. The promotion is MF Pro, the professional boxing division launched by KSI and Kalle Sauerland, using this as its debut event alongside Queensberry Promotions.
Wilder’s record: 44-4-1, 43 knockouts (97% KO rate) Chisora’s record: 36-13, 23 knockouts
Chisora, 42, arrives on a three-fight winning streak over Gerald Washington, Joe Joyce and Otto Wallin. He has confirmed this is his final professional fight regardless of the result. He also has no illusions about the threat across from him. “I’m f***ing petrified,” he told Carl Froch. “The guy can bang. I don’t want to get banged out in front of the O2 Arena.”
Wilder holds a 5-inch height advantage and a 9-inch reach advantage. At the press conference in London on February 4, he made clear what he needs from this night: “I need this fight. I need Derek more than he needs me. I’ve been broken down and rebuilt again. This is definitely a must-win for me. Not only a win — I need a devastating win, a knockout.”
The Fury Cloud Still Hangs Over Everything
Wilder arrived in London 18 days ago to promote the Chisora fight and the Tyson Fury subject derailed it within minutes.
During a live talkSPORT appearance, host Simon Jordan kept pushing questions about Fury. Wilder had stated clearly he was not there to discuss his old rival. Jordan continued. Security had to physically intervene as Wilder stood up and moved toward the host before walking off set entirely.
Chisora, a long-time friend of Fury, had walked into the same press conference at Glazier’s Hall carrying a cardboard cutout of Fury specifically to wind Wilder up. It worked.
The underlying dispute has been running for years. Wilder insists Fury removed padding from his gloves ahead of their 2020 rematch, that his water was spiked by former trainer Mark Breland, and that a documentary with all the evidence is in the works. “When the documentary and everything starts to come out, I’m going to show everything,” he told the assembled press.
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman publicly called the glove claims “ridiculous” years ago. Fury posted on Instagram this month: “You don’t hear me crying and moaning about my losses, saying someone cheated. There’s no point crying over spilt milk.” He also called Wilder a “lost soul.”
None of this documentary has a confirmed release date.
Chisora Is the Favourite — Here Is Why
Bookmakers have Chisora at -230 (US) / 4-7 (UK) with Wilder sitting as the underdog at +174. For a man with 43 career knockouts, that is a striking line — but it is a reflection of what the last five years have looked like, not his peak.
The main concern is punch output. The Parker and Zhang fights showed a fighter reluctant to pull the trigger. Chisora’s work rate and relentless pressure style are exactly the kind of problem that exposes hesitancy.
Hall of Famer Carl Froch put it plainly: “When you get on his chest after round four, five, six, he’s going to be looking at the exit door.”
Fabio Wardley, the current WBO world heavyweight champion, backed Chisora: “We haven’t seen that kind of devastating power from Wilder for the last I don’t know how many fights.”
The counter-argument is straightforward. Chisora has been stopped before. Wilder’s right hand, even at 40, is still the heaviest in the division. British super-bantamweight champion Matt Marsh sees it ending inside five rounds with a Wilder knockout.
This fight is a genuine 50-50 on current evidence, regardless of what the odds say.
A Win on April 4 Opens the Title Door Again
A convincing Wilder performance does more than rebuild his record. It reopens a conversation that felt finished two years ago.
As of December 2025, Oleksandr Usyk — who holds the WBC, WBA and IBF heavyweight titles after stopping Daniel Dubois at Wembley in July 2025 — was confirmed to be considering a fight with Wilder in 2026. Usyk vacated the WBO title in November 2025, which passed to Wardley. He has spoken about wanting two or three more fights before retiring.
Anthony Joshua holds no titles and is rebuilding after losing to Jake Paul in December 2025. Tyson Fury holds no titles and returns on April 11 — one week after Wilder-Chisora — against Arslanbek Makhmudov.
The heavyweight division that kept Wilder on the outside for years has shifted considerably. Manager Shelly Finkel confirmed to World Boxing News: “After [Chisora], we will be looking for a big fight in 2026.”
A Usyk fight would mean a world heavyweight title shot. That is where this road is pointed, if April 4 goes the right way.
Where It All Began
Deontay Wilder started boxing at 20 years old in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, working restaurant shifts and driving delivery routes for Greene Beverage Company to cover the medical bills for his daughter Naieya, who was born with spina bifida in 2005. Three years after walking into Skyy Boxing Gym for the first time, he was standing on the Olympic podium in Beijing — the only American boxer to win a medal at the 2008 Games.
In May 2022, Tuscaloosa commissioned a life-size bronze statue of him, placed outside the Tourism and Sports building on Jack Warner Parkway, sculpted by local artist Caleb O’Connor. The sculptor said fans would rub the right fist smooth over time. Mayor Walt Maddox had already given Wilder the key to the city back in 2007, before he had thrown a single professional punch.
April 4. The O2 Arena. London. Fight 50.
The right hand that built all of that still has something to say.
Deontay Wilder faces Derek Chisora on April 4, 2026, at the O2 Arena in London, live on DAZN.
