{"id":317747,"date":"2025-12-15T20:01:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T20:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/317747\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T20:01:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T20:01:07","slug":"deontay-wilder-reveals-target-opponent-as-warm-up-fight-before-oleksandr-usyk-clash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/317747\/","title":{"rendered":"Deontay Wilder reveals target opponent as ‘warm-up fight’ before Oleksandr Usyk clash"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deontay Wilder wants to face Derek Chisora as a tune-up clash in 2026 before pursuing Oleksandr Usyk.<\/p>\n

Wilder’s action has been sparse in the squared circle in recent years, with just one win to his name since 2023.<\/p>\n

\"Wilder<\/a><\/p>\n

2<\/p>\n

Wilder and Chisora faced off and are now both all in on a huge showdown in 2026<\/p>\n

The ‘Bronze Bomber’ beat American journeyman Tyrrell Herndon<\/a> last June, but was considered by most to be well beyond his best days.<\/p>\n

But in incredible fashion, current unified champion Usyk decided to issue a call-out to the American<\/a>, insisting it was his priority fight for 2026.<\/p>\n

After the news, Wilder revealed to talkSPORT<\/a> that the pair are in active negotiations for a showdown.<\/p>\n

Although when attending the recent IBA event headlined by Murat Gassiev’s victory over Kubrat Pulev<\/a>, Wilder faced off with British veteran Chisora.<\/p>\n

Read More In Boxing<\/p>\n

The pair teased a clash for Chisora’s 50th and seemingly final bow, and now the former world champion has suggested it could take place early next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cDerek Chisora, you want it, you can get it,” he said. <\/p>\n

“That\u2019s for sure. That might be my warm-up fight. I\u2019ll see what people think about that. <\/p>\n

“We were supposed to fight years ago, and I got in some legal trouble and it meant I couldn\u2019t travel. <\/p>\n

“It was supposed to happen and it didn\u2019t happen, and this opportunity means it can happen.”<\/p>\n

Is Wilder vs Chisora going to happen?<\/p>\n

The fight could certainly be a realistic possibility, but Wilder would be brave to treat it as a tune-up fight.<\/p>\n

\"Chisora<\/a><\/p>\n

2<\/p>\n

Chisora wants a big name for his seeming final bow in the ring and Wilder fits the bill<\/p>\n

Chisora has recently rolled back the years in the twilight stages of his career, beating Gerald Washington, Joe Joyce and Otto Wallin in three consecutive victories.<\/p>\n

And ‘WAR’ even revealed the pair were set to meet this month<\/a>, but the plug was pulled at short notice.<\/p>\n

So a bout is certainly on the cards, and Chisora wants to lure him back to the negotiating table.<\/p>\n

He said: “That is the fight number 50 right there.<\/p>\n

“I showed it to you. I wasn’t meant to show it to you, but I figured I’m right here, so let’s do it.<\/p>\n

“George Warren made this fight for December 13, and then Deontay got a phone call from the big boss, and he had to pull out.<\/p>\n

Derek Chisora and Deontay Wilder separated during face-off as they tease fight!<\/p>\n

“But I believe that deal has dropped, so it’s come back on. It will happen, whoever wants to put it on. I believe Frank Warren will put it on.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Deontay Wilder wants to face Derek Chisora as a tune-up clash in 2026 before pursuing Oleksandr Usyk. Wilder’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":317748,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,6102,12117,4036,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-317747","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-boxing-news","10":"tag-deontay-wilder","11":"tag-oleksandr-usyk","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=317747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/317748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=317747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=317747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=317747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}