After beating Otto Wallin on Saturday in Manchester, Derek Chisora took control of the microphone following his post-fight interview and attempted to do the same with his career, or at least what remains of it.
To this end, he summoned some people into the ring and asked three of them to hold large envelopes in which, he said, they would find three cards bearing the names and images of Chisora’s potential next opponent.
At this stage, given what we know of both Chisora and boxing in 2025, nobody could really be sure of what to expect ahead of the planned unveiling. We knew only that Chisora had just won fight number 49, supposedly his last in the UK, and that fight number 50 would be his last fight, period. What we didn’t know at that stage was what kind of fight or indeed opponent he was targeting for the proper “Last Dance” later this year.
In Wallin, the man he had just dominated, Chisora had selected a respectable-but-beatable fringe contender and to beat him was not only likely but also perhaps the perfect note on which to go out. And yet, having just beaten him, and having produced one of the better performances of his career, the question now was this: what next? Does Chisora, at 41, suddenly feel invigorated by three straight wins, including the Wallin one, and now want to test himself against the best the heavyweight division has to offer in fight 50? Or, conversely, is going out on a win, any win, more important to Chisora at this late juncture in his career?
Clueless at the time of the unveiling, we waited with bated breath, feeling there was just as much chance of the three cards revealing the names of Jake Paul, Mike Tyson and David Haye as any three active and world-class heavyweights. Money, after all, has long been everything to Chisora – the very driving force – and so low are boxing’s standards nowadays there is no need to take a challenging fight if one simply wants to get paid. All one has to do is strike a business deal with somebody famous or infamous and find somebody just as unscrupulous to find a ring and an arena on their behalf.
It was somewhat of a relief, then, to discover that Chisora’s shortlist of three contained no retired boxers, no influencers, and no reality TV stars. Instead, in keeping with the mentality Chisora has demonstrated throughout his career, he called out some of the best: Oleksandr Usyk, Daniel Dubois, and Anthony Joshua.
Those were the names and faces on the three cards revealed and it was upon their unveiling that Chisora, 36-13 (23), turned to the crowd inside the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester and asked for a response to each; eager to gauge the level of interest before he headed backstage to share a Five Guys burger with Otto Wallin. No fool, Chisora will know that it takes more than just the noise of fans to make a fight happen, yet at least now the fans know what is going on inside Chisora’s head – almost – and can better understand what he wants from his career before it is all over.
Clearly, with Saturday as proof, he wants a challenge. He wants a payday, yes, but he wants to earn it. He wants to go out at the top, win or lose, and he wants the opportunity to score the best win of his career in the very last fight of his career. For that, the ambition alone, he should perhaps be commended. The only question now is this: will Chisora get what he wants?
Oleksandr Usyk, 23-0 (14)
Although some like to exaggerate the success Chisora had against Usyk in the early rounds of their fight in 2020, there is no denying that he started well that night and that he gave Usyk one or two things to think about. He pushed the pace, he unsettled Usyk, and he acted as the perfect kind of opponent for what was only Usyk’s second fight as a full-blown heavyweight. Since then, of course, Usyk has not only grown into the division but gone from strength to strength, solidifying his place as the world’s number-one heavyweight. It would, for that reason, be a step back for the Ukrainian to even entertain the idea of fighting Chisora, much less actually doing it.
While he is still younger than Chisora by four years, Usyk, at 37, does not have a great deal of time left at the top and therefore will be looking only at career-defining fights at this point. Chisora, for him, represents the start of his heavyweight career, not the end of it, and beating Chisora when he did, back in 2020, meant more to his development than his legacy.
Unlike the Usyk fight, at least a fight between Dubois and Chisora would be a new pairing, one we have not yet seen. It is surprising, in fact, to realise that Dubois has got to where he is today without fighting Chisora given both Chisora’s longevity and his reputation for boxing a who’s who of the heavyweight division. Had they fought by now, we would have maybe discovered a lot more about Dubois’ resolve and ability to fight at a high pace. We would have also been treated to an all-action fight between two heavyweights with an aversion to taking a backwards step. The same would be true today, too.
In light of the fact that Chisora’s decision win over Wallin on Saturday was an IBF eliminator of some kind, there is a far greater chance that the man from Finchley fights Dubois, the IBF heavyweight champion, in fight number 50 than, say, Oleksandr Usyk. Even then, however, he must wait in line. In May, Martin Bakole and Efe Ajagba meet in a final eliminator for Dubois’ IBF heavyweight title, after which the IBF will have its number one contender. Not only that, Dubois defends his belt against Joseph Parker on February 22, a fight in which he is favourite but could of course conceivably lose.
Anthony Joshua, 28-4 (25)
As with Dubois, it is strange to think that the paths of Joshua and Chisora have never crossed and that this is a fight we have never seen. Their careers, although fought at different levels in the main, have run almost in parallel and more than once there have been rumours that the two would fight. Now, with Chisora enjoying an Indian summer and Joshua in need of rehabilitation, the two have never been closer and the fight has arguably never made more sense. Joshua, of course, would dispute this, but it is plain to see why Chisora has now turned his attention to the former champion, for he remains the biggest possible name Chisora could fight.
Sentiment aside, it is hard to imagine Joshua wanting, or indeed needing, to drop down a level to fight a 41-year-old Derek Chisora in 2025. For as imperative as it is that he gets back to winning ways, and restores his dented confidence, there are far cleaner and easier ways for Joshua to do this than by having an old warhorse like Chisora rubbing his body against him for however many rounds he lets him. It is, for so many reasons, probably the last thing Joshua needs.
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